Farm reservoirs in Suffolk are running dry due to a combination of extreme heat and a prolonged dry period.

Farmers have their fingers crossed for a wet August - which they will need to help them lift their potato crops from bone-dry soils.

Lack of rainfall in May, June and July and fast evaporation due to the heatwave hovering close to 40C in mid-July have combined to cause water reserves to dry up.

Vegetable growers are still hopeful they will just about be able to eke out their supplies to get them to the end of harvest - but not without losing some crop.

The cereal harvest is well under way - and in some areas completed - meaning that it's likely to finish a week earlier than usual overall. While dry crops make for an easy harvest, some will be too dry taking moisture levels too far below the maximum. In some cases farmers will be combining in the early morning when moisture levels are high to bump up yields.

East Anglian Daily Times: Euston Estate's Doles reservoir is now at 15% fullEuston Estate's Doles reservoir is now at 15% full (Image: Andrew Blenkiron)

East Anglian Daily Times: Euston Estate's Washpit reservoir, which is now emptyEuston Estate's Washpit reservoir, which is now empty (Image: Andrew Blenkiron)

But crops like onions and later (main) potatoes are still in the ground, along with a number of other vegetable crops.

Sugar beet crops in some areas have wilted in the extreme heat but they are generally resilient and do have the ability to bounce back - if the rains return in time.

Farmers' experiences this year will vary widely according to the type of soils they have. Crops in flyaway light soils will have required a lot of irrigation where that is available. Crops in heavier soils - which retain more moisture - should suffer less in dry conditions.

Overall so far, the picture is still fairly upbeat - with some average or above average cereal harvests being reported.

East Anglian Daily Times: Andrew Blenkiron, director of the Euston Estate, and chairman of the Suffolk branch of the National Farmers' Union, at Euston HallAndrew Blenkiron, director of the Euston Estate, and chairman of the Suffolk branch of the National Farmers' Union, at Euston Hall (Image: Denise Bradley)

But Andrew Blenkiron, director of the Euston Estate near Thetford and chairman of the Suffolk branch of the National Farmers Union, said his 100m gallon farm reservoir was down to 15% and his 80m gallon one was completely empty. He believed they would just about be able to get the potato, onion and carrot crops to the finish line - thanks to the £2m investment the estate had made in its water infrastructure.

However, the electricity costs involved in pumping the water have shot up - making it a very costly exercise on the farm, two thirds of which is irrigated. From a previous cost of £80k to pump the water, they were now looking at around £350k - thanks to price rises and a need to use 25% to 30% more water due to the heat. Winter barley had lost yield potential taking it just short of average and his milling wheat was about a quarter down on yield due to dry conditions in May and June but quality was good.

"Farmers are feeling pretty confident about this year because a good proportion of inputs were bought at reasonable prices," he said. But he added: "This next year is petrifying people." Trying to plan against a backdrop of such volatility was very difficult, he said.

Large organic vegetable producer James Foskett of Woodbridge said vegetable prices were still not where they should be which was also making it tough for growers.

All water sources are getting tight and the River Deben was getting very low - as are farm reservoirs although in most places he has enough to get him through. "We are being encouraged to cut abstraction by 50% and just irrigate at night," he said. The onion crop needed another two inches of water, he added.

East Anglian Daily Times: James Foskett in his sweetcorn fieldsJames Foskett in his sweetcorn fields (Image: Archant)

"It's very frustrating for us because we are going to lose crop," he said. "It's just so extreme."

Inputs into vegetables were particularly heavy, he added, and it hadn't rained enough. Rainfall up to July 28 was below average at 211.5mm. That compared to last year's 421mm - although that was a particularly wet season. But the average was somewhere around 350mm, meaning a shortfall of about a third or so on a particularly hot year when crops needed more water.

During the hot spell, tractor and combine drivers had just got on with it in their air-conditioned units but for those working the fields it meant early starts to avoid the hottest part of the day.

"Some of our organic crops - radishes and green beans - they grow so quickly that although we are sequentially planting so we have got good, fresh produce every day the next one is going over the top very quickly," he explained. All in all, it had been a "very frustrating" year. "We are still suffering from the fact we are not getting a fair return from supermarkets. We are now losing yield because of the weather."

There was still a surfeit of potatoes because of last year's stored crop but that would become out of date and there were problems down the line with lifting the main unirrigated crop and the rate at which tubers could grow prior to lifting in October/November, he explained.

It looked like he would have to plough in one field of organic carrots and two of green beans because he wasn't able to irrigate them - unless it starts to rain, he said.

Some crops had enjoyed a "reasonably good" growing season though, he said. He was just about to start on his sweetcorn, which was looking "quite nice".

His rye crop - grown for Ryvita - was looking "quite sensible" he said, at about 7.5t/ha - or average or slightly above.

"Personally I think we are going to have a very, very average year. I'm not looking forward to doing the numbers this year," he said.

David Nunn at Stowupland, near Stowmarket, farms with son James, and is now on his 45th harvest. They were about halfway through harvest and apart from the heat, doing well.

East Anglian Daily Times: Farmer David Nunn of StowuplandFarmer David Nunn of Stowupland (Image: Archant)

Winter barley was above average at 9.5t/ha and oilseed rape was slightly above average. Second wheats were about 9t/ha but first wheats had done very well at 12t/ha. "To be honest, we are very, very pleased with it at the moment," he said. These had been helped by the farm's very good clay soils, he said. They had sold wheat at £350/t - but he admitted feeling "quite guilty" about it because of the circumstances in which prices had risen with the invasion of Ukraine. But wheat was already rising above £200/t before that and they had bought nitrogen fertiliser at much-inflated price of £650/t for next year in order to catch it before it went much further - it was now £850/t, he said.

The weather was a worry, he admitted. "We are getting extremes in wet conditions and extremes in dry conditions and when that happens, food can become scarce and the price can increase and I think that's something we have to recognise.

"We should be talking about food security and not assuming it's going to come from somewhere."