Lincolnshire farmers highlight UK’s growing water challenge

Two farmers in Lincolnshire are seeing very different outcomes from this year’s harvest — one with record broccoli yields, the other with a field of 160,000 failed cauliflowers. The difference comes down to water.

An organic farmer near Gainsborough invested in a private 10-acre reservoir in 2012, filled with flood water from local rivers. It proved vital during what Anglian Water, a private water company in the UK, says was the driest summer since 1976. With a steady supply, his broccoli and cabbage harvest rose by 15%, supported by solar-powered irrigation. But the £1.5m reservoir was only possible with EU grants, no longer available since Brexit. He argues farmers could build more reservoirs if rules allowed them to sell excess water, something currently restricted.

Nearby, another farmer lost his entire cauliflower crop to drought, costing tens of thousands of pounds. Sheep now graze on what remains. Having studied farming in southern Europe, he says British agriculture must learn to treat flood water as a resource, not waste. Without better management, he warns, the UK could face water restrictions beyond hosepipe bans in the future.

source: bbc.com

photo: plantura.garden