How changing weather patterns are impacting UK food production

Climate change is here

Changing weather patterns are not looming, they are already here. Unpredictable weather, threats to soil, crops and livestock, and pressure on food supply are no longer distant possibilities but present realities.

On Ben Andrew’s farm in Herefordshire, he describes the river running through the middle of it as both ‘a blessing and a curse’ as it becomes increasingly impacted by the weather systems surrounding it.

“We have irrigation water for the veg, but then also we have some pretty catastrophic flooding events, which have been getting noticeably worse,” he said. “The number of flooding incidents has been getting more frequent, more severe and for longer.”

Guy Singh-Watson believes it’s the unpredictability and magnitude of today’s weather events having the greatest influence on his farming business in Devon, causing him to farm differently.

“[It] has meant moving off some of the steep slopes and making sure that we have shorter runs where we are growing on slopes, which all adds to cost and loses acres,” he said. “Somehow you've got to build that into your budget, because it is going to happen with increasing frequency.”

He said the ‘unknown unknowns’ are growing with large budgetary implications, a particularly bad year often taking several more to overcome.

Future food production harder to plan

With the volatility and erratic nature of our changing weather patterns undermining traditional farming cycles, both guests suggested what used to be ‘average’ years are now rare, making decision-making about what to farm increasingly difficult.

Ben explained what this means for his mixed farm of vegetables, arable crops and beef cattle: “If we get to a point where this unpredictability of the weather means that we're losing more than we're actually able to harvest, then we have to assess whether growing vegetables is really financially viable for us and whether we just go with something that is going to give us a bit more of a predictable income stream.”

Guy agreed, pointing out there’s currently great risk in growing new crops traditionally suited to other climates, as some commentators have suggested will happen. Instead, growers are ‘retreating’ to manage the risk.

“To try and manage that risk we are retreating from the shoulders of the season. Commercially, going early and going late just doesn't add up,” he explained. “This year, we had a beautiful spring, you would have done great if you sowed early. Last year, it was a disaster, and you lost the lot. The added profit you'll make this year is no way going to pay for last year, you'll need 10 of those, so the net result is you retreat.”

Sustainable farming practices essential

Soils that are repeatedly water-logged or alternately dried out, lose structure, organic matter and microbial life. At the same time, the biodiversity underpinning healthy ecosystems is under threat from monocultures and loss of habitat. To thrive in a volatile climate, therefore, using regenerative practices to improve soil health and biodiversity are essential for farm resilience.

Having experienced some “pretty catastrophic soil loss events”, Guy underlined this by describing what he’s doing to change how he farms as well as what he farms.

“If you want to survive a drought, having higher levels of organic matter in your soil and a really well-structured soil where your crops can root deeply is going to massively help,” he said. “Soil health is incredibly important to keeping the soil in the field and to reducing the risk of loss or yield reduction by drought.”

Guy also explained the benefits of the smaller fields and abundant hedges on South West farms, believing they help reduce problems associated with pests and disease on his land:

“We seem to get very little botrytis in our strawberries, which earlier in my career was just an absolute curse. I absolutely put it down to having a really healthy soil, making lots of really good compost, applying it generously and keeping the field size relatively small, making sure we've got lots of biodiversity surrounding it.”

Similarly, Ben uses biodiversity to control pests on his farm, seeing it as one way to overcome the disadvantages of warmer winters where less pests and diseases are being killed off by hard frosts:

“I've really started to see what a benefit the beneficial insects can have on the farm. Just seeing parasitic wasps in action, being able to turn over a leaf and actually see a wasp emerging from the body of an aphid is fantastic.”

Final word on our changing weather patterns

“It's happening, so get used to it and make your farm as resilient as possible and don't chase the big yields. Just try to aim for some form of stability and resilience.” - Ben Andrews

“I think it's a long time before we're going to be growing olives…..I'm sure there will be new crops, but that requires the skill, the knowledge, the experience, the machinery to be able to grow those crops.” - Guy Singh-Watson

Episode Showstoppers

1. Climate change is here – don’t expect time to prepare. Act now and develop a plan based on the specific risks faced on your farm
2. One single action isn’t enough – multiple mitigations are needed.
3. Consider the ‘how’ you farm as well as the ‘what’ – do you need to farm differently rather than simply changing produce types or crop species?

Listen to the full episode below - also available via Spotify, Apple podcasts and YouTube.

 

About our guests:

Ben Andrews runs a 600-acre organic mixed farm of vegetables, arable crops and beef cattle in north Herefordshire. Heavily influenced by the River Arrow running through the farm, his 2025 Nuffield Scholarship is investigating ‘Flooding and diffuse agricultural pollution: agriculture’s role in the causes and solutions’.

Guy Singh-Watson began Riverford Organic Farmers in 1987 delivering organic vegetables to 30 homes near his farm in Devon. The company is now delivering thousands of weekly veg boxes nationally, is a certified B Corp and 100% employee-owned since 2023. He has been named BBC Farmer of the Year twice and Riverford’s veg boxes were awarded Ethical Product of the Decade at the 2015 Observer Ethical Awards.