John Mercer, NFU regional director, said: “While we have had extremes, farmers are resilient and are used to managing and adapting to changes in weather patterns.
“Crops should be well established by now and should there be more rain fruit crops will be under plastic protected by polytunnels and grass growth will benefit livestock later in the season.
“The NFU is still in discussion with the Government, Environment Agency and water companies about the situation so we can keep our members informed and give them the latest information that is available.”
But some damage has already been done and in Birmingham the UK’s biggest wholesale market has seen less local produce as a result of the extreme weather.
Mark Tate, chairman of the Birmingham Wholesale Fresh Produce Association, said: “All the English produce has gone short and backwards.
"There is not a lot at the moment in English strawberries and cauliflower. Local strawberries have been delayed because of the cold weather and it has affected the vegetables a little bit.
“Most food from this time of year has come from Spain and Holland – they’re having a freak hot weather peak at the moment.
“With the land receiving the wet weather, in about September/October, it will benefit the apples and all the trees and plants later in the year.”
FACTFILE
The Environment Agency announced the Midlands had entered a drought on April 16 following the driest 18-month period on record. In addition, the region had only received 40 per cent of the long-term average (LTA) rainfall in March 2012 and also experienced exceptionally low groundwater levels and river flows.
A spokesman for the agency said: “When we announced drought we were seeing immediate environmental impacts.
“We believed that six months of average rainfall would be needed to stave off the environmental impacts of low groundwater levels.
“Some of our rivers were dry, others were recording record lows. We had rescued fish four months earlier than usual in some rivers and were keeping a close eye on others.”
DEFRA – the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – has issued new designations for drought.
For an area to be in drought, there must be environmental stress – effects on wildlife, rivers and farmers – as well as water company restrictions on households and business.
Then in April the Midlands received 250 per cent of long term average rainfall for the month and some areas saw more than three times the amount of normal rainfall – making it the second wettest April on record in the Midlands since records began in 1910.
In the first eight days of May, there has already been 42 per cent of LTA rainfall in the Severn Basin and 27 per cent in the Trent Basin, which brought all the region’s rivers to normal levels with several to exceptionally high levels.
An Environment Agency spokesman added: “The record amount of rain and cool weather, has meant we are not seeing environmental impacts we had expected.
“Recent record rainfall has eased pressure on water resources, and has allowed us to remove environmental drought status in the Midlands, but we are still concerned about the environmental impacts a hot, dry summer may have, as groundwater levels are still exceptionally low in some parts of the Midlands. We wouldn’t expect it to fully recharge until the end of winter.”
