'A lack of rain has written off my crops'

A farmer has blamed a lack of rain through the spring for part of his crop being "written off".

Mark Meadows farms arable land in Alderminster near Stratford-upon-Avon, and said his spring wheat "hadn't been growing well" as there had only been one significant rainfall since the seeds were planted in late March.

The Met Office said this spring was so far ranking as the driest in over a century.

Mr Meadows added that his ground was "like concrete" and the ruined crop meant he had lost about £3,000.

The field was due to be harvested towards the end of August, however Mr Meadows accepted that he had to "start again next year".

"It just hasn't rooted as there should have been moisture."

"We have lost yield and we can't manage that yield back - there's not enough time now to put a crop in that would be viable this year", he told BBC Midlands Today.

The wheat from a nearby field that was planted eight days earlier had benefited from the March rainfall and could still be sold, but Mr Meadows said it was not as mature as he would have liked.

Richard Simkin who farms in Essington, Staffordshire, said he could not remember a spring that had been as dry and sunny as this year, however he added that the strawberries he grew had not been affected.

His strawberries were grown in polytunnels and drip-fed water which had been extracted from a borehole on his land.

Although Mr Simkin had not been affected by the drought, he said the sunnier weather meant his strawberries were ready to be picked "at least 10 days earlier than normal".

He added that his farm near Wolverhampton also grew pumpkins, which were due to be planted in the next two weeks.

The farmer said if the drought continued, he could experience problems with his pumpkin yield.

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