Impact of sustained heavy snow on UK farming

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As adverse weather conditions and the early snow look set to remain through much of the UK, farmers face up to the implications of another harsh winter after just nine months respite. The North East of England and Scotland have been particularly hard hit by snow; Aberdeen’s Original FM recently reported that there were fears farmers in the area would suffer as a result of rising forage prices and damage caused by more heavy snowfall.  

Danger to farm buildings 

Reports indicate that around 50 steadings have collapsed due to the weight of snow in Scotland and the border regions. On 3^rd and 4^th December a number of cattle were killed when buildings collapsed in Tayside and Kirkcaldy.

NFU Mutual has issued a warning that farmers should take precautions when attempting to clear snow from their roofs. NFU spokesperson Tim Price responded to reports that farmers and their staff are taking severe risks, such as climbing onto roofs or clearing them from a loader bucket, by saying, “these are dangerous measures and the prospect of falling through a roof is far worse than a building collapsing. We ask farmers to take extreme care if they are attempting to save their steadings.”

Yesterday, a girl in Gordon, Berwickshire suffered spinal injuries after being partially trapped when a snowdrift fell on her while she was clearing snow on thefarm where her father works as manager. Susan Hutchison, a neighbor, said: "It was horrific. Samantha was helping my husband and her dad and a few others clear snow, and 10 seconds later this happens…The snow must have come from the roof, but it's quite difficult to tell what happened because the snow is stacked up here.”

The insurers claim that, as a result of the snowfall in January, most susceptible roofs will have already fallen. However, Tom Johnston of the NFU voiced concerns of further collapses this winter, as structures may have been weakened from earlier in the year.  

Effect on food supply

Various newspapers have reported that possible effects of the continued bad weather include food shortages as farmers struggle to reach crops and livestock. Peter Davies, a farmer and importer from Lincolnshire told BBC Radio 4 “it's the worst snow I've seen during this time [of year]... at the minute we're unable to cut any UK brassicas and are obliged to import from France, Italy and from Spain."

The cauliflower harvest is currently being affected, as the main growing counties; Lincolnshire, Kent and Cornwall are suffering in the cold snap. Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, sprout grower Chris Gedney explained his fears that the frost would prevent him harvesting his sprouts in the run-up to Christmas, during which time 67% of UK sprouts are harvested.

There has also been consternation in the hardest hit areas about the difficulties of transporting livestock for slaughter, should the snow continue. George White, in an article written earlier this week, speculated on the effects farmers unable to reach market will have on butchers, during this, their busiest time of year.

In order to ensure that feed reaches poultry farmers, the Scottish Government has introduced emergency measures for feed deliveries. However, farms in badly affected areas have reported that EU Drivers’ Hours legislation and snowfall has caused animal feed supplies to be impacted on some delivery routes.