Cultivating Resilience: European Farmers Navigate the New Reality of Prolonged Drought

In the southeast corner of England, farmer Andrew Barr surveys his fields, contemplating what to plant next. He and thousands of others are confronting an increasingly difficult challenge: a shortage of summer rainfall.

The county of Kent, approximately 50 miles southeast of London, has long been known as the Garden of England. However, for much of this past summer, it resembled a dust bowl following one of the driest seasons ever recorded in the United Kingdom.

Field after exhausted field on his 750-acre East Lenham farm languished under a relentless sky for weeks, scorched yellow like French toast. With no significant rainfall for more than 40 days, the harvest proved deeply disappointing.

“It drives you a bit mad sometimes because it is something you can’t do anything about,” Barr observes. “At one time, growing good crops or raising livestock meant you made money. But that’s no longer the case.”

Repeated hot, dry summers are compelling farmers and governments to reconsider their approach to what appears to be an emerging pattern. Much of mainland Europe has endured its hottest, driest summer in living memory.

“It is all about water management”

“This was the year that climate change shifted from being an abstract statistical problem to a disruptive presence in everyday life,” says Samantha Burgess, senior climate scientist at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

She catalogues the societal impacts: schools closed, railway tracks buckled, widespread wildfires, water usage restrictions, nuclear reactors shut down, and people advised to stay indoors.

“The physics are very clear,” she adds. “Heat waves will continue to get more intense and more persistent.”

A person runs near the Elizabeth Tower – more commonly known as Big Ben – and the Houses of Parliament, during near-drought conditions in many parts of the United Kingdom, July 29, 2026.

Barr’s family has operated this farm since his great-grandfather migrated south from Scotland in 1903. There is a sense that conditions have never been more challenging.

His wheat yields this year fell 15% below normal levels. Spring crops performed even more poorly. The harvest was completed by July 27 – a month ahead of schedule – reduced to dust.

Now, he and many fellow farmers are innovating to adapt to dry summer conditions. He is already breeding hybrid wheat varieties that may perform better in such weather, though he acknowledges that crop innovation and gene editing offer no immediate solution. “If you identify something in a wild wheat variety that you want in a commercial operation, it takes 30 years to get the genetics right,” he explains.

A more immediate solution could involve creating greater capacity to store water during wetter periods.

“It is all about water management,” says Jim Monaghan, a professor of crop science at Harper Adams University. Noting that climate change is also bringing wetter winters, he adds: “We need to capture the water that falls, store it effectively, and use it efficiently.”

This is certainly the case on Barr’s farm. A reservoir for rainwater collection would make a meaningful difference, particularly for spring crops like barley and beans, which suffered considerably this year.

“The situation demands reservoirs on farms,” says Barr. “We are receiving more winter rainfall; we simply aren’t getting it in summer.”

Unfortunately, he notes that the regulatory requirements – for planning, licensing, and monitoring – would cost a substantial five-figure sum.

“That makes it too much of a risk for us,” he concludes.

Attitudes will need to shift

During the worst of the drought, the U.K. government indicated that assistance may be forthcoming. Prime Minister Andy Burnham chaired an emergency meeting and announced a £65 million ($88 million) package with commitments to streamline the process for building farm reservoirs.

At his East Lenham farm in southeast England, farmer Andrew Barr reports a harvest down by 15% to 20% compared with normal years, because of a prolonged heat wave and drought.

However, farmers remain uncertain how much difference this will make.

“They are discussing reservoirs so farms can irrigate during summer months, and for the livestock sector… harvesting rainwater for the animals,” says Stephen Dennis, a sheep farmer and regional manager with the Farming Community Network, an agricultural charity.

“There is potential for this to be beneficial,” he says. “But it won’t make grass grow during very dry periods.”

For public water supplies, the government plans to construct nine major new reservoirs – the first in more than three decades – though these projects will take years to complete.

If heat and drought become the new normal in Britain, attitudes will need to change. This is a nation accustomed to complaining about excessive rain. Now it is learning what happens when there is too little.

In a key document published last year, the Environment Agency, a U.K. government body, stated: “Never have so many people and so many sectors critical to the functioning of society placed such a demand on our water resources, at a time when nature and the environment are reliant on that water to cope with a changing climate.”

The document added that water companies needed to reduce leakage, estimated at approximately 2.8 billion liters daily, and promote more efficient use by households and businesses. “In tandem, they must develop new supply options such as water recycling, desalination, and new reservoirs,” the document continued.

Without urgent action, public water systems will face critical shortages in the future, the agency has warned.

“Very few farms won’t have diversified”

Farmers say society is only now recognizing what they have understood for years.

“It all comes back to water,” says Nigel Skinner, a farmer who has spent almost his entire life on a 300-acre family farm in southwest England. “If we have another year exactly the same as this one, there will be serious problems.”

Cattle farmer Sam Squier herds his Aberdeen Angus cows on a green pasture at Humphreys Farm in Great Waltham, Chelmsford, Britain, Aug. 11, 2026. The farmer has made his 200-acre beef farm more resilient to drought through regenerative farming practices, such as planting herbal leas and using mob grazing to improve water retention and soil health.

He argues that innovation for drier conditions is needed beyond the agricultural sector. “There isn’t the water storage capacity for our current population,” he says. “The population has grown enormously in the last 30 years, and demand for water is substantial.”

Professor Monaghan, from Harper Adams, agrees that solutions require a tiered approach: short-term focus on water management, medium-term adoption of plant varieties known to perform better in drier conditions, and long-term investment in major water infrastructure and precision crop breeding.

In the meantime, many farmers like Barr are pursuing strategies that make business sense – though not necessarily for food security: diversifying away from food production.

He already operates a solar farm on 40 acres and receives government grants for converting other land back to nature. He is considering growing drought-resistant crops for an anaerobic digester – essentially an energy production facility.

Barr has also rented several farm buildings to furniture restorers and other companies needing warehouse space, generating approximately a quarter of his annual income.

Other farms rent cottages to tourists and fields to dog trainers or even music festivals. “Very few farms haven’t diversified in some way, converting barns into holiday accommodations, things like that,” says Dennis.

For his part, Barr says he wants to maintain his farm, but he acknowledges that life might be considerably easier if he retraced his great-grandfather’s journey from 125 years ago.

“There are reasons I should move back to Scotland now,” he muses.

“Scotland still receives subsidies. And rain.”

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