As East Anglia and other parts of England were officially declared a drought zone this week, farmers have been battling through heatwaves and wildfires to deliver an exceptionally early harvest.
Elveden Estate on the Suffolk/Norfolk border made the huge investment in its new reservoir last year in order to protect its large vegetable and cereal operation during dry periods.
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Andrew Blenkiron pictured at the new £3m reservoir on the Elveden Estate as it was being built last year (Image: Sonya Duncan)
It’s designed to store up to 500,000 cubic metres of water – equivalent to 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools – and is filled with water abstracted under licence from the River Lark during the wet months from November.
The 22,500-acre estate near Thetford includes more than 10,000 acres of farmland, and is particularly vulnerable during periods of drought because of light, sandy soils.
Andrew Blenkiron, managing director of Elveden Estate, says with such a massive demand for water for crops “it’s going to be tight” getting them over the line.
“One of the three reservoirs, the new one is empty.
“The other two don’t have that much in either, both are down to the last 15% of capacity.
“Thankfully, we still have some decent volume left on our groundwater (borehole) licences, so its fingers crossed that we are going to have enough left to see us through.”
The Elveden Estate is described as the largest ring-fenced arable farm in lowland Britain and has felt the full impact of the drought and heatwaves across its main crops – with cereal yields suffering.
The estate finished its cereal harvest last Saturday night. Winter barley was 30% down on average.
“Wheat did quite well thanks to being watered in April/May and just about made average,” adds Andrew.
“Spring barley has been a real disaster and has ended up about 70% down on the average, budgeted yield.”
The situation is not just affecting yields but also the quality and viability of late-season crops – although early potato yields and quality have “held up well”.
“We are having to irrigate to reduce crop damage as we harvest now as well,” he says.
“Onions are coming along nicely and will soon be ready to lift, again thanks to the significant spend on water.
“Those people who have put so much effort into irrigating crops deserve medals.
“It’s been flat out here for almost four months now, with only a couple of days off from watering in early June.”
No fires have broken out on the estate so far, but precautions are in place, including water bowsers hitched to tractors and fire breaks created in cereal stubble.
“It really is going to take a lot of rain to make any significant difference.
“My real concern now is how are we going to fill our reservoirs, and how is the aquifer going to recharge for next year’s water?”
A report by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) says this year’s harvest is the earliest since its records began in 2006 after “exceptionally hot and dry weather”.
For the second consecutive year, combines have entered fields significantly earlier than normal, with many farmers across the South and East of England completing harvest two to three weeks ahead of the long-term average, it says.
Anthony Hopkins – its new director of cereals and oilseeds – says many farmers worked through the night to avoid the most extreme daytime temperatures.
“While it’s encouraging to see oilseed rape yields improving on average, cereal yields have generally been below the 10-year average so far, with some farms experiencing significant reductions.
“Following successive years of difficult weather and rising costs, the financial pressures are becoming increasingly acute for those businesses hardest hit.”
