Climate change threat to wheat
INCREASINGLY frequent extreme wet and dry conditions as a result of climate change are casting doubt on the future security of the UK’s wheat crop.
Wheat yields in the UK have largely stood up to the varying weather over the past 30 years, but researchers are now concerned that the pile-on of extreme events, with drought following flood following unseasonal cold all in one growing cycle, is becoming too much for the hardiest varieties – and hardiest farmers – to endure.
A research team from the University of Oxford, the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), the Met Office and Bristol University, has carried out an in-depth analysis of wheat yields and meteorological conditions across the main agricultural areas of the country since 1990, while also investigating the potential effect of projected climate change on production in the decades ahead.
They found that there is ‘substantial resilience’ of UK wheat yields to single extreme weather events such as low or high rainfall or temperature, thanks to farmers’ effective crop management and varietal tolerance – but where some combinations of extreme weather occurred over the course of a growing season there were ‘significant negative impacts’.
For example, in 2020, torrential autumn rain hampered sowing of crops, an exceptionally dry spring affected plant growth and, finally, heavy downpours in August created very challenging harvesting conditions, resulting in some of the UK’s poorest wheat yields for decades.
Professor Richard Pywell, of UKCEH, and a co-author of the study, said: “Until now, farmers have largely been able to compensate for adverse weather conditions by changing when they sow or harvest crops, or by altering the timing and amount of fungicide, pesticide or fertiliser that they apply to fields.
“However, climate change will push the boundaries of what can be achieved though crop management, and it could become increasingly difficult for farmers to deal with the impacts of more frequent extreme weather events.
“This could affect the quality and quantity of crops, and therefore food production, in the UK,” he pointed out.
SHEARING teams from across the world have been invited to compete at the ‘Olympics’ of their trade – the Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing & Wool Handling Championships, which will be held at 2023’s Royal Highland Show.
The event is expected to attract shearers from more than 30 countries to Ingliston next June, and with the Highland’s 200,000 in-person visitors, plus another 200,000 people worldwide tuned into the show’s online viewing platform, RHS TV, the Golden Shears stage is going to be on the global spotlight like never before.
With sponsorship from Lister Shearing, British Wool, Ulster Wool and Elanco, the competition will take place over the full four days of the Highland, after competitors have been treated to a taste of Scottish hospitality with a gala dinner to kick off proceedings.
Chairman of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Jim Warnock, commented:
“There is no better stage than the Royal Highland Show to celebrate the amazing skills of competitors at the Golden Shears. Scotland has a long and renowned heritage of sheep farming and wool handling, so it is fitting that the show will host this prestigious competition.”
Chairman of the Golden Shears World Council, George Graham, added: “This is the Olympics of shearing and wool handling, with super athletes vying for the prestigious Golden Shears world teams and individual titles. Up to four and a half thousand sheep will lose their fleeces over the course of the event – a sight to behold! I would like to take this opportunity to convey my best wishes to Scotland as the host country and all the visiting countries, and I hope after a few very difficult years this will be a phenomenal success for everyone involved.”
Applications can be made on the RHS website at royalhighlandshow.org up until early January 2023.