Farmers hope for rain as dry spell stalls spring crops across the south

While many have been soaking up the spring sunshine, farmers across southern England are facing growing concern over the impact of an extended dry spell on their crops.

With little rain forecast in the coming days, many fields are struggling, as crops sown earlier this spring fail to germinate in increasingly parched soil. For farmers like Colin Rayner, who runs Stubbings Farm in Maidenhead, the situation is already having a serious effect on yield potential.

Rayner said the spring barley he planted several weeks ago has “hardly germinated”, leaving him hoping for rain by the weekend. “We had a very wet winter,” he told BBC Radio Berkshire. “I think we had 90 days of rain from November to the end of February. Then it just stopped.”

“The ground’s dried out very quickly. We’ve had cold temperatures but then very hot lunchtimes,” he added. “In the morning, I’ve got two jumpers on and by lunchtime I’ve got my shorts and T-shirt on. By 3pm, the jumper’s back on again.”

Rayner, who has been farming for 50 years, says the weather has changed “dramatically” in that time. “We seem to get periods of extreme wet and then periods of extreme hot and dry.”