Britain has seen a bumper berry crop after a record-breaking summer has caused concern for farmers with wildfires and water shortages.
British Berry Growers reported that this year’s haul is already seven per cent up on last year’s already unusually large crop with just two-thirds of the harvest now picked. Blackberry, blueberry and raspberry yields have been particularly strong, they added.
The trade body said that the hot conditions have helped the berries grow faster.
Nick Marston, chair of British Berry Growers, told The Independent: “We’ve picked just short of 100,000 tonnes, and I would expect that we will get to 130,000. So we’re two-thirds of the way through now.”
He added that last year they picked an estimated 123,000 tonnes throughout the season.
“Berries are not as affected by heat as many other vegetables that are,” he explained. “If we look at berries, they’re grown in southern Spain, North Africa, similar varieties and the same berry type… and it’s hotter there than it is here, even in what we see as a heatwave.”
He continued: “If we look at many field grown crops [like] potatoes, broccoli, and so forth, growers have really struggled because they rely heavily on overhead irrigation. So we use drip irrigation, computer controlled, which is much more sparing. It uses a lot less water and also because the investment in berries is massive, growers invest millions in plants every year before the season starts.
”It’s paid growers to invest in water security, so 60 per cent of our farms either have well they have complete water security either through winter storage reservoirs or through licensed boreholes that they’re allowed to abstract from.
”Only 40 per cent rely on either river abstraction or main supply, and that percentage is decreasing,” he added. “Growers are still looking to improve our self-sufficiency in terms of water supply because that’ll be a challenge for the future for everybody.”
It comes after consecutive heatwaves this summer has driven concern over food shortages as dry and hot conditions have brought smaller yields and made farmers’ work more difficult.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) warned the situation was “increasingly concerning” as dairy farmers were already using winter feed because grass has stopped growing.
Food and drink producers warned that the soaring temperatures and dry conditions that marked this summer would drive prices higher.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said “fruit, vegetable and grain supply” are being hit by recent heatwaves, with these crop shortages then set to feed into supermarket prices.
It is understood that the supply of a number of UK-grown fruit and vegetables has already come under pressure, such as broccoli and cherries. Economists from the trade group suggested that this will put upward pressure on food inflation going into 2027.
Meanwhile, poor grain harvests have driven the cost of animal feed higher, with predictions that this could lead to more expensive meat as farmers are forced to reduce herd sizes.
Dr Liliana Danila, chief economist at the FDF, said: “Competition for fewer resources will in turn push up the price of ingredients for manufacturers.
“The UK’s food and drink manufacturers work hard to absorb costs where they can, but are already grappling with rising costs as a result of war in Ukraine and in Iran, so we expect the additional upward pressure of reduced crops will be reflected in retail prices into next year.”
