Government Unveils £65m Drought Package As Growers Battle Water Shortages

Farmers and growers across England are to receive £65 million in additional support as the government responds to prolonged dry weather, mounting pressure on water supplies and the driest July on record.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the package following a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee, COBR, examining the national impact of extreme heat, wildfires and drought.

The measures are intended to help agricultural businesses secure water for crops, protect livestock and maintain environmental agreements where drought conditions have made their original commitments impossible to deliver.

An additional £50 million will be directed towards the Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026, taking its total budget to £290 million. Up to £15 million will support the development of on-farm reservoirs, enabling growers to store water and become less vulnerable to increasingly dry summers.

For fresh produce businesses, particularly irrigated vegetable, fruit and salad growers, the promised improvements to water access could prove crucial. The Environment Agency recorded more than 1,500 abstraction licence restrictions in the week to 12 August, including Section 57 spray-irrigation restrictions affecting 302 licences in East Anglia.

Existing environmental safeguards and low-flow limits will remain in place. However, the government plans to speed up the administration of licence variations and make it easier for neighbouring farms to share available water.

Ministers will also seek to remove unnecessary obstacles to the construction of agricultural reservoirs. Updated national planning guidance is due to be published on Monday, while the government is working with the National Farmers’ Union on a review of permitted development rights for on-farm water storage.

Burnham said: “The ability to grow our own food is national security, and I will treat it that way.”

He described the present conditions as the third drought in five years and said farmers should not be left to carry the risks created by a changing climate alone.

The support applies only to England, where approximately three-quarters of the country is currently in drought. Affected areas include East Anglia, Kent, Sussex, the Thames Valley, Devon and Cornwall, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, the Midlands, Wessex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

The funding is being made available by reprioritising money within Defra’s existing farming budget. The government maintains that the dry weather is not expected to affect national food security, but acknowledged the need to strengthen domestic production, supply chains and long-term resilience.

The package also introduces greater flexibility within the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship and legacy stewardship agreements. Farmers may be allowed to graze or cut land normally reserved for wildlife habitat where feed is scarce, without forfeiting payments, provided the soil is protected.

The announcement comes amid growing concern over reduced crop yields, rising production costs and the long-term availability of water for British food production.