Defra and the Environment Agency held a drought meeting with the land-based sector on Monday.
The NFU, UKIA and Potato Council discussed the potential impacts of the current drought on irrigation in 2012.
We made the implications for farmers and growers, and for the economy generally, very clear.
The EA briefed the meeting, but said that ‘the silence from farmers is deafening’. They said very few, if any, had come forward to express concerns about water availability or to ask for support.
Defra say they cannot make it rain nor can they change the abstraction rules and regulations, which are enshrined in law. But the EA who administer the regulations, are willing to be as flexible as they can to accommodate changes in licences which may help farmers through particular problems e.g. extending the abstraction period, daily abstraction limits, taking high flows when they occur, using larger pumps, and looking at the specific local abstraction issues to see how requirements can be accommodated.
They will also fast-track any changes.
The message is simple - if farmers and growers want something done – they need to contact their local EA office now. The NFU has been assured they will do their very best to help you.
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