Cider producers are set to face their "worst year ever", according to farmers, as record temperatures and drought have hit British agriculture with a series of challenges. The extremely warm and dry conditions over the past few months have led to the nation recording its worst apple harvest since records began in 1984, with farmers warning that the country could face food shortages within just months.
Drought leaves apples 'not fit for purpose'
Farmers said that they had been "hoping and hoping for rain" as the drought left orchards with smaller, malformed apples that were "not fit for purpose". As for the cider industry, producers are doing their best to maintain it by using stocks saved up from previous years. Though the industry is still struggling, smaller family-run businesses have been forced to abandon some of their orchards completely.
Lorraine O'Connor, who has run Cuckoo Valley Cider, a cider farm in Cornwall, for over a decade, told The Telegraph the business was on course for its "worst year ever". She said that despite not being worried to begin with, the back-to-back heatwaves and lack of rain meant that "apples started dropping really early", were much smaller, and the leaves of the trees on their farm turned brown "two months ahead of time".
Harvests down by as much as 80%
Her family business had been expecting to produce 16 tonnes of apples in their orchard. But with the poor harvest, Ms O'Connor said they were only on track to bring in 10 tons. "Now, we have just been hoping and hoping for rain," she said.
According to the Environment Agency, 71.3% of England is currently in drought, with the South and Midlands making up the most affected areas. There has also been prolonged dry weather in the North, and with a sixth heatwave forecast for the nation, concerns continue to rise. Economists have estimated that Britain is likely to suffer a multibillion-pound knock from extreme heat.
Government support demanded
Steve Layton, who owns a family-run cider business in Herefordshire, said that this year was the worst in his 40 years on the farm. Alison McIlwraith, who owns a 40-acre farm in Devon, said she expected their cider production to be down 80%.
Ms O'Connor said that the small producers could need Government support to invest in equipment to adapt to future droughts. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) and other agricultural groups demanded that the Government provide interest-free loans linked to losses caused by drought. Though some areas have seen rainfall in recent days, Tom Bradshaw, the president of the NFU, warned that it had "come too late for lost harvests and slashed yields". Andy Burnham introduced a £65m financial support package for farmers earlier this month.
