Weather-beaten UK farmers lament a dismal year for food production

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already squeezed by the supermarket, all types of farmers had to withstand drought and floods this year too

"It was the worst year in living memory," says Jonathan Lukies, who farms 288 hectares (720 acres) of crops and orchards near Stansted, Essex. "It was horrible."

time this year has been a roller coaster for British farmers who now just wants to forget most of the time. With unprecedented drought affecting most of England in the spring, so serious that has resulted in a series of emergency meetings with the government, farmers desperately need above average rainfall to replenish the soil for sowing . Their prayers were answered by the rain -. But the worst possible way, with the beginning of the summer the wettest ever recorded, followed by a summer rain sunless short in many areas before the end of the growing season

This combination of extreme weather has been catastrophic for staple crops such as wheat and vegetables to grow first, then wash crops and prevent maturation.

"From Easter weekend, we had rain a year, in three months," says Lukies. "It was the murderer. Never seen anything like it, and my Father who is in his 60s said he has never seen anyone any more. "

His views were echoed by the agricultural community. Guy Gagen, consultant cultures in the National Farmers Union, said: "Speaking to farmers who have been in business for decades, I do not remember something as difficult as this year was bad years ago, although course, but. was terrible right through the growing season, from beginning to end.

"One of the problems was that it was so dark - ... There was very little sunlight to grow If you remember, a few days in June and November are effectively reduced productivity "

All

agriculture was affected. Farmers have seen yields of wheat fell by 14%, according to the National Farmers Union, the reduction of the wheat crop in the United Kingdom at levels not seen since the 1980s - before farmers many investments in technology, such as grain dryers. Growers have suffered, with half of the pea crop eliminated country. Producers of meat, poultry for breeding pigs, saw their costs skyrocket due to the poor grain harvest of the world's rising food prices. Fruits and salads also experienced a terrible year, with fresh products that are discarded or sold at unusually low prices during June and July, because people just were not buying food for the summer weather .

• consumer prices are rising sharply because of all these factors. This seems to mean a boon for farmers - at least foods that have been able to grow is now fetching better prices. But most farmers do not benefit.
• For many arable farmers, one reason is that hedge their risks of future returns by arranging to sell their grain at an agreed price before harvest, which gives them a guaranteed income they can generate. Lukies was typical, hiring about two-thirds of his crop in advance. But prices at the beginning of the season was low - around £ 150 per tonne. As the harvest, the price rose to ? 205. Lukies was not able to take advantage again in the third had not sold in advance, since most of their production was very poor, due to weather conditions. Thousands of farmers are likely to have been in a similar situation.
For farmers, as vegetable producers, price increases are offset by much lower yields of their crops. "People have invested money in the production of these crops, and saw yields collapse," says James Hallett, executive director of the Association of British producers.

As is increasingly the case in recent years, the fate of most British farmers will be dictated by the supermarkets. The "big four" have a huge market share that can determine margins for farmers. Even able to absorb a large part of the only source of income for farmers can rely on even in difficult years -. Agricultural subsidies

An average family of four in the United Kingdom was paid £ 426 per year on agricultural subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU (CAP) in 2009, according to the Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Rural Affairs (Defra), and the poor are the most affected, because it represents a higher proportion of their disposable income than the rich. This figure rises to more than 8 times per week in each store is likely to have increased since 2009, but new research has not been done. The money is supposed to help farmers in distress. But the dominance of supermarkets means that much of this money goes to the bottom line of big business.

This is because large retailers know many farmers receive subsidies - is public information - and you can calculate the cost of production for farmers, so that lowering the prices paid by farmers. For thousands of farmers, this means that the production of foods such as milk, poultry and pigs at a loss - what supermarkets pay is less than the cost incurred. Only subsidies to farmers to maintain these companies, so that nearly profitable enough to continue.
While subsidies paid by households in the UK are in fact increase the profits of supermarkets rather than farmers - large retailers can obtain higher margins for food purchased from farmers by a lower salary the cost of production, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill to keep farmers in business. This is one reason why consumers in Europe pay less for their purchases -. The 6.4% increase in consumption Weekly Store UK is double the EU average

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