British Flower Growers Urge Action On Climate Resilience To Safeguard Production

Small-scale flower growers are calling on the UK government to take urgent action on climate resilience, water infrastructure, and support for British-grown produce, warning that extreme weather is threatening small horticultural businesses.

To date almost 140 micro growers have signed an open letter by Herefordshire flower farmer Kelly Munford in which she says climate change is no longer a distant concern for growers who represent an industry now valued at £33.6 million a year.

Munford of Wye Grow describes this summer as “frightening” in the opening statement of her letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Ellie Chowns MP and those responsible for Britain’s environment, farming, business, energy, and children’s welfare.

“We are watching increasingly extreme heat, prolonged dry periods, depleted water supplies and wildfires become part of life in Britain,” Munford laments. 

“For those of us trying to grow crops for a living, climate change is not an abstract discussion about what might happen in 2050. It is happening in our fields now.”

Munford explains that crops representing months of work and thousands of pounds of investment can be lost within days as water becomes harder to secure.

To accommodate the UK’s new climate she says action is needed quickly in the way the country builds, farms, generates energy and manages water.

A Sizeable Industry

British flower farming should be recognised as an important part of the rural economy and domestic supply chain, according to Munford. 

Small-scale flower farming is valued at £33.6 million a year and has recently received dedicated government economic classification codes.

“British-grown flowers are not just a nice countryside extra,” she states.

Munford points out that spending on British flowers supports seed and plant suppliers, machinery and irrigation businesses, packaging companies, florists, venues, and other local businesses.

“Those pounds circulate through the British economy,” she comments.

Yet 86% of flowers sold in Britain are still imported, leaving domestic growers competing with overseas producers while facing rising costs, unpredictable weather, and inadequate infrastructure.

Water Storage, Renewable Energy, Domestic Procurement

A central demand in the letter is greater investment in national agricultural water storage programme.

“We do not simply have a shortage of water in Britain,” Munford points out. “We have a shortage of infrastructure capable of capturing and storing water when it falls.”

The letter calls for government support for agricultural reservoirs, rainwater harvesting, and efficient irrigation, as well as simpler planning for reservoirs and shared water-storage schemes between farms.

Munford also says rainwater capture should be incorporated into suitable public and commercial buildings.

“We need to start thinking decades ahead instead of waiting until reservoirs are low and issuing restrictions,” she argues.

Energy-wise, the letter also calls for a faster transition away from fossil fuels, with solar generation incorporated into suitable new buildings.

“We are constructing enormous roofs across Britain whose only purpose is currently to keep the rain out,” Munford notes. “Why? Those roofs could be generating electricity.”

Government must also do more to actively support and utilise British produce and flowers, according to Munford.

Public procurement should be used to strengthen domestic supply chains, she argues, with government departments, councils, schools, and hospitals prioritising British food, flowers, and horticultural products where reasonably available. 

She also calls for clear country-of-origin labelling for cut flowers.

Strengthening Vital Infrastructure

The wider message is that farming and horticulture should be treated as national infrastructure rather than simply businesses operating on land.

“We should stop treating farming and horticulture simply as businesses occupying pieces of land,” Munford says. “They are part of our national infrastructure.”

Munford is calling for a national agricultural water-storage programme, climate-adaptation funding for small farms and horticultural businesses, greater use of solar energy, faster decarbonisation of heating, and a long-term strategy for rebuilding British horticulture.

“Above all, I would like our political leaders to recognise something very simple: climate resilience is infrastructure,” she says. 

“Reservoirs are infrastructure. Solar panels are infrastructure. Healthy soils are infrastructure. Farms are infrastructure. Local businesses and supply chains are infrastructure.”

Munford says she is not asking for protection from every difficult trading year, but for the infrastructure and policy environment needed to give British producers a realistic chance to adapt.

“I am asking the government to give businesses willing to invest, adapt, work and produce in Britain the infrastructure and policy environment that gives them a fighting chance.”

View the open letter here.