Story summary
The summer of 2026 brought record-breaking heat and drought to the West Country, devastating local farmers' harvests. In Gloucestershire, Charles Day's family farm saw its wheat harvest cut in half compared to previous years. Meanwhile, dairy farmer Sarah Godwin from Wiltshire faced significant financial strain, estimating losses exceeding £100,000 due to the need for emergency cattle feed when grass failed.
Anthony Hopkins, director of cereals and oilseeds at the AHDB (Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board), described the situation as financially pressing for arable farmers in drought-affected areas. He predicted that most would rate this harvest a 3 out of 10. The dire conditions forced dairy farmers to open silage clamps early to feed their cattle, while apple orchards were reduced to only one-tenth of their usual crop size.
Overall, the extreme weather led to what experts are calling the worst wheat harvest ever recorded in Britain. Farmers across Wiltshire and Gloucestershire struggled with unprecedented costs and yield losses, underscoring the severe impact of climate change on agriculture.
Written for “Drought Effects On Farms” on 2026-10-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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The hottest summer on record, the longest drought, the worst harvest. West Country farmers are counting the cost of a "terrible summer", as one put it.
The wheat harvest on Charles Day's family farm in Gloucestershire was cut in half.
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"It's just soul-destroying," he says.
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Dairy farmers had to rip open silage clamps stored up for the winter to feed the cattle as the grass failed.
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grass → have → cattle
Sarah Godwin calculates it cost her family's Wiltshire farm "over £100,000".
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She says "it's shocking".
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I spent the summer watching farmers install showers for cows, watch their cauliflowers burn to a crisp in the heat, and search for apples in cider orchards reduced to a tenth of their normal crop.
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Worst wheat harvest ever
Buy a loaf of bread and there's a good chance it started in the fields of Charles Day's family farm in north Gloucestershire.
"I love harvest," the fourth generation farmer tells me.
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"It's a whole year's work coming to fruition.
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The crops were looking "fantastic" in April, he told me.
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Then in June, the rain stopped and "the sun just stole our yield".
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Wheat grains shrivelled instead of fattening, and the yield plummeted.
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Official figures estimate the total UK cereal harvest was the lowest on record, external, wheat down about three million tonnes, or 11% according to the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB).
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harvest → estimate → Board
Anthony Hopkins, AHDB director of cereals and oilseeds, says: "At a time of high input costs, arable farmers in the worst-affected areas are really feeling the financial pressure right now."
But in the South West, it was much hotter and the impact far worse.
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impact → say → West
When the combines went out on Charles Day's family farm, they gathered a harvest "about 50% down, sometimes more".
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"It's just soul-destroying," he adds.
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Across the South West, Tom Collins, who speaks for the NFU in Wiltshire, says most cereal farmers had seen harvests down "at least 30%".
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harvests → speak → Wiltshire
Spring barley and beans were more than 50% down, he adds, particularly badly hit by the drought.
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"Most farmers will give this harvest 3 out of 10", he adds.
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Dairy costs rocket up
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costs → rocket → ?
Put some butter on your bread, or cheese, and that is probably from the West Country's other farmers - dairy producers.
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But unlike the wheat harvest, the amount of milk produced this summer barely fell.
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amount → produce → milk
Total production is down just 4.5%, external, according to the ADHB.
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production → accord → ADHB
"That's because we have to feed our cows, and milk them, whatever the weather," explains Sarah Godwin.
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Her family raise dairy cows west of Chippenham, selling their milk to a major supermarket.
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family → raise → supermarket
The Cotswolds was badly hit by the drought, leaving grazing pastures brown and without any nutrition for the cows.
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Cotswolds → hit → cows
So like many farmers, the Godwins had to open their sileage planned for the winter and buy in feed to boost their cows diets.
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Godwins → have → diets
"Altogether it cost us around £100,000," Godwin explains.
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"We also had a drop in production yields, that's around £20,000.
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that → have → yields
"On top of that, cows suffered more lameness, lower fertility, more mastitis.
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cows → suffer → lameness
They really did not enjoy the heat."
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The family spent £15,000 installing new sprinkler systems and huge fans to cool the cattle in their sheds when they sheltered from the heat outside.
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they → spend → heat
Even the normally lush fields of Somerset withered in the heat.
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fields → wither → heat
Tom Kimber's family have farmed near Charlton Musgrove in south Somerset, in the heart of England's most productive grazing land.
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They run 250 dairy cows on their own grass, cutting sileage for the winter months.
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By September, they would normally have three large clamps of sileage ready for winter.
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This year, they have only cut two, and had to raid one throughout July and August, to make up for the lack of grass.
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But sadly, Tom Kimber is getting used to what was once freak weather.
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"This is the fourth drought in eight years now, so you barely financially get over the last one and you're hit with another one.
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It's becoming far more frequent, these events.
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"It's incredibly difficult this constant lurching between one extreme to the other, that's what keeps you awake at night.
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…and 30 more, not listed.
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