The cost of bread and other food is set to soar unless the wet and warm weather abates.
This was the stark warning from crop experts, who said the record rainfall was causing misery as wheat slowly rotted in the fields, with farmers unable to harvest it.
In what weather forecasters are describing as the wettest August on record, the rain damage is being sorely felt on Britain’s wheat and rapeseed fields, the first link in the food supply chain.
Last year’s rain-soaked summer was one of the main reasons why wheat doubled in price, subsequently pushing the price of bread up 10% over the autumn.
Crop experts have warned that unless we have a two-week period of dry, sunny weather, the impact could boost retail prices once again and also spoil the quality of wheat-based foods such as bread and bakery goods.
“We are certainly struggling,” said Alistair Dickie, director of crop marketing at the Home Grown Cereals Authority. “Yorkshire and the north are having a harder time than southern areas, but generally every day is a battle. The water is getting into the wheat and damaging its quality, which is obviously a concern to food manufacturers who rely on it as an ingredient. The rapeseed oil crop, used for vegetable oils, margarines and spreads, is also struggling and losing yield,” he added.
Although British farmers were desperate to start harvesting the crops, NFU chief arable adviser Guy Gagan warned that getting combine harvesters on to the fields was currently out of the question.
“Farmers could only harvest 5% of the total crop if they started now,” said Gagan. “It’s like using a lawnmower on wet grass. The wheat would turn to mush and clog up the machinery. Although they are seeing the quality slowly decline and are desperate to start work, it would be hugely unprofitable.”
Milling wheat, which is used in a variety of foods, as opposed to feed wheat, which is used in animal feed, was the biggest priority for farmers, Gagan said.
“Around 85% of flour used in British breads comes from UK wheat, so farmers gather it before any other crop,” he added.
The situation is being closely monitored by the major bread brands. A spokesman for Associated British Foods (ABF), which owns the Kingsmill and Allinson brands, said dry weather was essential to avoid future price hikes.
“We are aware that there have been difficulties getting the harvest in this year but believe it is a little early to get too concerned,” said an ABF spokesman. “But if the weather doesn’t improve and we don’t get a dry spell, there could certainly be knock-on effects for pricing.”
It was the quality of the wheat, rather than the quantity, that was the biggest concern to the food industry, explained Richard Crane, food and agriculture partner at Deloitte, but he said manufacturers were facing a different scenario to last year.
“Last year we had low yields because the rain blighted crops at the beginning of the summer and manufacturers were caught short,” said Crane. “This year the damage has come later on and it is the quality that is now the big worry.”
This was the stark warning from crop experts, who said the record rainfall was causing misery as wheat slowly rotted in the fields, with farmers unable to harvest it.
In what weather forecasters are describing as the wettest August on record, the rain damage is being sorely felt on Britain’s wheat and rapeseed fields, the first link in the food supply chain.
Last year’s rain-soaked summer was one of the main reasons why wheat doubled in price, subsequently pushing the price of bread up 10% over the autumn.
Crop experts have warned that unless we have a two-week period of dry, sunny weather, the impact could boost retail prices once again and also spoil the quality of wheat-based foods such as bread and bakery goods.
“We are certainly struggling,” said Alistair Dickie, director of crop marketing at the Home Grown Cereals Authority. “Yorkshire and the north are having a harder time than southern areas, but generally every day is a battle. The water is getting into the wheat and damaging its quality, which is obviously a concern to food manufacturers who rely on it as an ingredient. The rapeseed oil crop, used for vegetable oils, margarines and spreads, is also struggling and losing yield,” he added.
Although British farmers were desperate to start harvesting the crops, NFU chief arable adviser Guy Gagan warned that getting combine harvesters on to the fields was currently out of the question.
“Farmers could only harvest 5% of the total crop if they started now,” said Gagan. “It’s like using a lawnmower on wet grass. The wheat would turn to mush and clog up the machinery. Although they are seeing the quality slowly decline and are desperate to start work, it would be hugely unprofitable.”
Milling wheat, which is used in a variety of foods, as opposed to feed wheat, which is used in animal feed, was the biggest priority for farmers, Gagan said.
“Around 85% of flour used in British breads comes from UK wheat, so farmers gather it before any other crop,” he added.
The situation is being closely monitored by the major bread brands. A spokesman for Associated British Foods (ABF), which owns the Kingsmill and Allinson brands, said dry weather was essential to avoid future price hikes.
“We are aware that there have been difficulties getting the harvest in this year but believe it is a little early to get too concerned,” said an ABF spokesman. “But if the weather doesn’t improve and we don’t get a dry spell, there could certainly be knock-on effects for pricing.”
It was the quality of the wheat, rather than the quantity, that was the biggest concern to the food industry, explained Richard Crane, food and agriculture partner at Deloitte, but he said manufacturers were facing a different scenario to last year.
“Last year we had low yields because the rain blighted crops at the beginning of the summer and manufacturers were caught short,” said Crane. “This year the damage has come later on and it is the quality that is now the big worry.”
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