Guy Smith, deputy president of the NFU, has warned crops were "being parched to the bone".

In an interview with the BBC he said "Spring crops that farmers sowed in April barely  knowing what rain is.

"As you travel west... a little bit more rain but even here the grass has stopped growing and that's a problem for livestock farmers because they need to have that grass growth to sustain their sheep and cows through to the winter.

"We're hearing that livestock farmers are now having to feed winter rations to their stock and that's going to cause problems later on."

As the dry weather continues to impact farmers across the country the NFU have reopened the Fodder Bank service, which enables members to find cattle feed and animal bedding, or to sell surplus fodder. New listings have been added.

Mr Smith said vegetable farmers also face problems as their reservoirs - used for irrigation - begin to run dry.

"If this weather continues... we will see impacts on vegetable production. The signs are ominous."

David Exwood, who runs Westons farm in West Sussex, said his yields are down by 25%.

"Crops are suffering, the fire risk at the moment is exceptional," he told the BBC.

"It's the Sussex savannah at the moment. I mean the cracks in the ground are extraordinary - they go down over a metre and so it's going to take a lot of rain to turn this around."

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Farmers in Wales warned that they could be fighting to survive if the summer's dry weather continues.

Many say the grass they feed their cows effectively stopped growing weeks ago, prompting concerns about the food available to herds in the longer term.

The weeks of scorching weather follow heavy snow storms in late winter.

NFU Cymru has also warned farmers that they have "a duty of care" to animals, as forecasts predict two more weeks of soaring temperatures.

President John Davies said he had heard farmers were already using their winter supplies of fodder because the lack of rain had stunted grass growth while the "intense" heat was "burning off crops".

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                                         Animals are being fed using winter stocks (Pic BBC)

The union has also had reports of many farm wells, ponds, ditches and some boreholes running dry.

Some farmers are opting to dig new boreholes or in extreme cases, pay to bring in extra water.

Gareth Richards, chair of NFU Cymru's milk board, said the weather could have an "unprecedented" impact on the dairy industry.

Mr Richards, who farms in Pembrokeshire, said: "For the majority of dairy farmers it's just a case of surviving day by day to get through, and hopefully the rains will come."

Aled Rees, who runs an organic dairy farm in north Pembrokeshire, said in 20 years of farming he had never experienced conditions like it.

"It's the loss of milk to start off with because in this weather the cows aren't milking as they should," he said.

"They've dropped around three litres of milk per head, so there's a financial cost to that because there's a loss of income."

Mr Rees estimates that it has cost him around £13,000 more in the last month because he has had to buy in additional organic feed.

"Because we're already rationing it, we have enough grass in the fields left to last just under two weeks," he said.

"But after that it really needs to rain or I'm not sure what we're going to do."

Meanwhile NFU Cymru has warned that members should follow "the highest possible standards of husbandry" for their animals.

"The priority for livestock farms will be protecting the welfare of their animals, putting plans in place to ensure these animals' needs are met, making sure they have access to fresh water and shade from the sun," said Mr Davies.

Earlier this month NFU president Andrew McCornick said the dry weather had enabled a lot of farmers to cut hay and silage and graze livestock outdoors after a "dreadful" 12 months.

Sheep farmer Joyce Campbell, from Sutherland, said it was the driest summer she could remember - and it was shaping up to be the "perfect storm".

"I can just about remember 1976 and I've never seen anything like this," she said. "Parts that should be lush and green are brown and burned."

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