Wet weather forcing up price of beer and bread

THE wet weather of the past few months has put a damper on life for millions, to put it mildly.

And now all that rain is set to hit us in the pocket as well, experts are warning.

The relentless storms and flood‑ ing have cut harvests for farmers while also limiting the amount of planting they can do to grow the next batch of crops.

As a result, the price of bread, biscuits and beer are at a ‘real risk’ of rising, according to land analyst Tom Lancaster.

The blow comes just as food costs were starting to fall after millions have been battered by months of soaring inflation.

The Energy & Climate Intelli‑ gence Unit (ECIU), which has examined crop forecasts, said harvests are expected to drop by almost a fifth. It found that the production of wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape could fall by four million tons, equivalent to 17.5 per cent, compared with last year.

And the decline is even worse when compared to the average since 2015 at five million tons, or 21 per cent.

Wheat crops could be hit especially hard, with the ECIU estimating a fall of more than a quarter compared with 2023.

This is because wheat which is milled to make bread needs to be of a higher quality, but this is harder to achieve in wet weather.

Beer‑lovers could also lose out as rain levels are continuing to hamper the planting of barley and other spring crops, pushing up costs for brewers, who could raise the price of a pint.

Colin Chappell, an arable farmer in Lincolnshire, told of the weath‑ er’s ‘massive impact’. He said: ‘We went through the winter with virtually nothing viable drilled.

‘While it’s now dry enough to plant some fields, some of them are so bad I don’t think they’ll get drilled this year. The situation is very hit and miss.

‘The climate is making farming on heavy clay soils like mine very difficult and quite demoralising.’

Last week, major breadmaker Associated British Foods warned of higher prices if rising UK grain costs could not be offset by larger harvests abroad.

Meanwhile, the National Farm‑ ers’ Union has claimed extreme weather and climate change is a big threat to UK food security.

Warmer wetter winters similar to this past year are expected to increase in frequency.

Mr Lancaster said: ‘To withstand the wetter winters that will come from climate change, farmers need more support.

‘The Government’s green farming schemes are vital to this, helping farmers to invest in their soils to allow them to recover faster from both floods and droughts.’

Noting that half of British food comes from abroad, Mr Lancaster said the Government would have to ensure farmers are supported.

‘Moving faster to net zero emis‑ sions is the only guaranteed way to limit these impacts and maintain our food security,’ he added.

William Kendall, an East Anglian farmer who turned Green & Blacks into a global chocolate brand, believes the industry must embrace regenerative farming methods.

He said: ‘It greatly enhances the soil’s capacity to hold water and therefore prevent saturation.

‘This mean better crops and ensures the chances of the flash flooding downstream we have seen this winter are greatly diminished.’

‘Harvests could drop by a fifth’