UK farmers' 'losing sleep' over unpredictable weather and soaring costs

ITV Granada Reports journalist Emma Sweeney has been speaking to farmers in the North West.

Farmers in the UK say they are "losing sleep" over the consequences of an increasingly unpredictable climate on their crops and livestock.

Consecutive months of heavy rain, flooding and soaring prices mean farmers country-wide are facing unprecedented issues.

Robin Cropper, who farms 1,300 acres of land in Aughton, Ormskirk, says he would ordinarily expect to produce between 4,000, and 5,000 tonnes of potatoes a season.

But this year, he says his yields will be significantly reduced because of late planting and volatile weather.

He said: "Once the crop is starting growing and ready to harvest, a lot of them are a long way off and we have to use crop protection products to stop fungi growing."

At the same time, costs of key inputs like fertiliser and energy for storing crops like potatoes have remained high, increasing by 28% over the past two years.

"We need to be given confidence for the future," Robin explains.

"That confidence can only be given by governments investing in the infrastructure of drainage to make sure that the water we do get passes out to sea."

British potatoes are usually available for people to buy all year round but recently supermarkets have had to import spuds to keep shelves stocked.

Meanwhile, Chorley livestock farmer Helen Drinkhall says she "loses sleep" over the relentless rain which she says will have a knock-on effect later on in the year.

She explains: "We're making the food for winter now and the grass is ready to be cut, so we could really do with getting it bailed and stored.

"The longer we leave it the worse the quality will be for the cattle in the winter."

Helen's farm has been in her family since the 1700s and rising costs mean they have had to scale back in recent years.

Without more help from the government, she feels like problems will go from bad to worse.

She said: "At the minute we're just treading water, waiting to see what the government say they want us to do - environmental scheme wise.

"We're scared to invest in machinery and infrastructure because we don't know what kind of funding we will get in the future.

"I definitely lose sleep over it. It's really hard for a business to live with that level of uncertainty."

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