Farmers across the Bailiwick face their toughest summer yet

• Phil Wellbrook reports

As temperatures soared to record highs last week, farmers in Jersey and Guernsey are facing huge challenges due to dry fields and shortage of feed.

The lack of rain and increasing fuel costs are also adding to the pressures that farmers and farm shops are battling, with the peak of summer yet to arrive.

Peter Le Maistre from Jersey Farmers Union said there will be an impact on both farmer and consumer costs.

"It is certainly going to be a difficult 12 months for everyone, not just growers."

He said that farmers are going into their winter feed and imported cattle feed in order to provide for their cows. This has gone up a lot in price meaning the cost of dairy farming is increasing."

The rising cost of farming may also hit the shop shelves with the prices of dairy products increasing. Farmers in Sark have said that there may be a shortage of Sark butter and delays to the planned production of cheese.

Peter Le Maistre also pointed to the cost of fuel for farming vehicles.

He said: "If the fuel prices don't go down for next year, one is going to need more money for the end product."

However, he did say that he does not think that "costs are not going to go up and up and up" meaning there is hope for the future of farming across the Bailiwick.

This comes after farmers in Sark said the hot weather would put major pressure on the island's dairy trade due to the reduced quality of grass for the herds.

Jason Salisbury from the Isle of Sark Dairy said: "It's still on target to make cheese, quite when I don't know yet because my milk yield is starting to ease off because they haven't got a lot to eat."

"So I've got a knock-on effect of not getting a vast amount of milk coming through."