The NFU and NFU Cymru have urged the Government to introduce a number of farm resilience measures to combat extreme weather events.

With the summer agricultural drought highlighting the vulnerability of farming and the nation’s food security, the two unions have penned a document setting out key priorities.

The publication of the document coincides with Farmers’ Day at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Poland.

Recommendations for the Government and its agencies and for the farming sector include:

Plan

Protect

Pay

'A wake-up call'

NFU president Minette Batters said: “The summer’s heatwave and the impacts of the agricultural drought were hugely challenging and should be a wake-up call for us all.

"It caused crop yields to become increasingly unpredictable, lower quality in fruit and vegetables, a severe lack of feed and bedding for livestock, interruptions to vital water supplies and an increased risk of fire.

"The reality is that the full effects won’t really be known until next year.

“At our Drought Summit in August, Defra Secretary of State Michael Gove promised ‘to do whatever it takes’, to deliver ‘maximum flexibility’ and to ‘move quickly’.

"Since then we have been working closely with the Government and its agencies to alleviate the effects of the drought and will continue to monitor for potential drought next year.

“Our industry is at the forefront of climate change impacts and producing safe, traceable and affordable food is a daily challenge for UK farmers.

"The lessons we have learned clearly identify what policies need to be in place to manage market failure and volatility.

"This must be treated seriously alongside productivity and delivering for the environment in order to provide a supply of homegrown food and to deliver food security for the nation.”