European Farmers Losing Crops to Record Heat and Drought
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- Tim Young's Norfolk farm recorded just 0.2mm of rain in July and produced 500 tonnes fewer onions last year — a 35% shortfall that wiped out his profit, with supermarket size rules sending much of the crop to waste.
- Uyen Do, an organic farmer in France's Dordogne region who adopted organic practices in 2018, said "the vines are dying" and "it's too fast, too big," now unable to adapt quickly enough to the shifting climate.
- Half of England was officially declared in drought on Wednesday, with July expected to be the driest on record, while France's president Emmanuel Macron called the country's wildfires the worst since WWII.
- Paul Tompkins, deputy president of the National Farmers' Union, warned that on-farm reservoirs in drought-status areas — covering half the UK — will likely run out of supply by August.
- Riverford has emptied all but one of its on-site reservoirs and now relies on humidity sensors and soil moisture probes to water polytunnels as efficiently as possible.
- Pip and Nut founder Pippa Murray said the company has already raised prices, noting California almond acreage has fallen for five consecutive years and warning that "volatility is on an upward trend."
- Prof Pete Falloon, the Met Office's science lead on food security, told the government that regenerative approaches, better flood management, water storage, and drought-tolerant crop varieties are essential — but those practices already exist and need wider adoption.
Why it matters: Food costs are already climbing as climate disruption hits farm balance sheets: Pip and Nut has raised prices and expects more increases, while 35% crop shortfalls like Young's show that even profitable years can flip to losses overnight. With half of England in drought and on-farm reservoirs projected to run dry by August, the timeline for adaptation is shorter than the planning and infrastructure cycles required to build resilience.
