Burnham Announces £65m Drought Support for UK Farmers

Published: 15 August 2026.The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced a £65m package of support for drought-hit farmers in England, stepping up the government’s response to the worsening effects of extreme heat, prolonged dry weather and water shortages after mounting pressure from Labour MPs and grassroots members.

The package is designed to provide immediate assistance to farmers struggling with falling crop yields, rising production costs and increasingly difficult access to water, while also helping the agricultural sector prepare for future dry summers. Burnham said farmers should not be expected to carry the financial and operational risks created by the changing climate on their own.

The announcement comes after one of the most difficult summers in recent years for parts of Britain, with drought conditions affecting agriculture while wildfires have spread across several areas. Farmers have reported harvesting crops earlier than usual, while others have faced poorer-quality produce and significantly reduced yields as temperatures remained high and rainfall stayed limited.

The government said most of the new funding would be directed towards the Sustainable Farming Incentive, known as SFI, which provides payments to farmers in England for environmental and nature-friendly practices. An additional £50m will take the overall SFI budget to £290m, with the new money expected to be directed towards areas experiencing the greatest pressure from drought.

The move follows criticism from Labour MPs and party activists who argued that the government had been too slow to publicly address the climate crisis. They said the scale of the drought, wildfires and disruption to food production required a stronger political response and more immediate measures to help communities and farmers deal with the consequences.

Burnham has chaired a Cobra meeting focused on extreme heat, wildfires and drought, with ministers and officials now working towards a broader cross-government response. The effort is intended to coordinate action involving agriculture, water supplies, infrastructure and food production as the country faces increasingly frequent periods of extreme weather.

Under the new arrangements, some farmers receiving environmental payments will have greater flexibility to manage land during the drought. Farmers who would normally be restricted from cutting or grazing certain areas until later in the year will be allowed to do so where grass has become scarce, without losing their existing payments.

The government has also allocated £15m to help farmers develop reservoirs on their own land. The aim is to improve water security and provide agricultural producers with greater access to supplies during future periods of prolonged dry weather.

However, the reservoir funding has already attracted criticism from agricultural and environmental campaigners, who argue that the amount is too small compared with the scale of the infrastructure required. They say the £15m will cover only a fraction of the reservoirs needed across the country and have called for a long-term programme rather than a short-term intervention.

Gavin Lane, president of the Country Land and Business Association, described the announcement as a welcome and pragmatic step but warned that it amounted to little more than a temporary solution. He said making it easier to construct on-farm reservoirs was positive, but argued that planning rules, water abstraction arrangements and long-term government support would all need to be aligned.

The cost of constructing reservoirs will also remain a major challenge for farmers, many of whom are already dealing with increased operating expenses and other financial pressures. Agricultural representatives have warned that farmers cannot reasonably be expected to finance large-scale water infrastructure themselves while simultaneously dealing with lower incomes caused by poor harvests.

The government is also planning to improve farmers’ access to water by simplifying arrangements governing how much water can be taken from the environment. Officials are expected to speed up the process for issuing licences, making it easier for farmers to obtain water when supplies are under particular pressure.

The measures are intended to address both the immediate impact of the current drought and the longer-term challenge of adapting British agriculture to a changing climate. Water availability has become an increasingly important issue for food producers, particularly as higher temperatures increase evaporation and place additional pressure on rivers, reservoirs and groundwater.

Burnham is expected to visit a farm in south-west England, where farmers have experienced some of the earliest harvesting periods in their careers. The prime minister is expected to highlight the difficulties faced by producers whose crops have matured earlier because of the heat, while yields have fallen and costs have continued to rise.

He has argued that the ability of Britain to produce its own food should be considered a matter of national security. The government’s approach therefore places food production alongside water management and climate resilience as strategic priorities.

“This is the third drought in five years,” Burnham is expected to say, stressing that farmers are at the frontline of the consequences of a changing climate. His message is that the risks associated with extreme weather should be shared more widely rather than being absorbed almost entirely by agricultural producers.

The announcement also comes as Britain continues to deal with the wider consequences of extreme summer weather. Wildfires have affected communities in different parts of the country, placing additional demands on emergency services and raising questions about how well existing infrastructure is prepared for increasingly severe weather conditions.

During a visit to Stourbridge in the West Midlands, where firefighters had been responding to a major blaze, Burnham said Britain needed to acknowledge the reality of a changing climate rather than avoid the issue. He also called for faster progress on clean energy and a stronger transition towards a lower-carbon economy.

The prime minister said the Cobra meeting earlier in the week had helped mobilise resources for individuals, communities and fire and rescue services affected by the extreme conditions. He praised emergency workers responding to fires and other climate-related threats.

Water infrastructure is emerging as one of the most urgent issues facing policymakers. Officials have announced support for nine new reservoirs currently being developed, while MPs have called for faster construction because several existing reservoirs are at exceptionally low levels.

The agricultural sector argues that more long-term investment will be needed as climate pressures intensify. Reservoirs, improved water networks and more flexible licensing could help farmers withstand future dry periods, but such measures require significant investment and planning over many years.

The government’s latest package is therefore likely to be judged not only by how much immediate financial relief it provides but also by whether it creates a durable framework for climate adaptation in agriculture.

For farmers already facing damaged crops, reduced yields and higher costs, the new funding could offer some relief during a difficult season. But agricultural representatives remain concerned that the scale of the challenge extends far beyond the current £65m package.

The drought has also renewed debate about Britain’s preparedness for extreme weather and the need to protect domestic food production. With hotter and drier periods becoming a growing concern, policymakers face pressure to improve water resilience while ensuring that farmers have the financial support and infrastructure necessary to maintain production.

Burnham’s intervention marks a more prominent acknowledgement from the government that climate change is already affecting communities and the economy rather than representing only a future threat. The challenge now will be turning emergency support into a sustained strategy capable of protecting British agriculture through increasingly unpredictable weather.