NFU calls for urgent water management infrastructure after farmers affected by THIRD round of flooding in Herefordshire and Worcestershire
They says it's to protect farmers and agricultural land against extreme weather
The National Farmers Union (NFU) are calling for urgent action to bring water management systems up to date to help farmers cope with extreme weather.
It comes as farmers in Herefordshire and Worcestershire are dealing with the aftermath of the third round flooding within 12 months.
A new report by the NFU's Integrated Water Management sets out why a long term, collaborative approach needs to be taken by the Government, farmers and land managers and water companies to invest in water management in the response to climate change.
It outlines how it's needed to safeguard agricultural land for food production by taking on-farm action to achieve these goals.
Stephen Watkins, a farmer from Severn Stoke in Worcestershire, said:
"Usually when it the water comes over it's a £20,000 bill because we lose crop and have lots of rubbish to pick up.
"Last winter the rubbish clear up cost around £10,000 and then you've got the restoration of anything that gets damaged as there's usually some fences that have gone".
Fields owned by Stephen are now underwater for the second time in two months, after they were flooded in December and then again following Storm Christoph in January.
He added:
"Because it's been under once, I've never had it flood twice so I don't have the experience to restore it.
"It came out the last flood alright. We lost a few acres but nothing too much to worry about but whether it will handled another stomach of it I don't know.
"It then affects the cropping programme because you can't plant what you want so it often has to be a late planted crop.
"It often has to be a late planted crop which ends up being maize but the last thing you want is a wet Autumn so you get a double whammy".
The new report by the NFU found 57% of farmers say they have experienced extreme weather conditions, such as flooding or drought, in the past 10 years.
They're now calling for significant investment into water management infrastructure and for the creation of a multi-sector integrated water management strategy to help secure a fair share of water for agriculture, and establish the agri-food sector as an essential user of water.