Jeremy Clarkson has warned that British farmers face a “catastrophic” harvest this year after months of extreme weather, with agricultural leaders calling for urgent investment to protect the UK’s food supply.
The Clarkson’s Farm presenter, who runs Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds, said 2024 saw relentless rain while 2025 has brought unprecedented dryness. Writing on X, he said: “It looks like this year’s harvest will be catastrophic. That should be a worry for anyone who eats food. If a disaster on this scale had befallen any other industry, there would be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
The Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has already warned that production of key arable crops – wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape – could hit near-record lows. The second-worst harvest on record was logged last year, when heavy rain blighted yields.
Julian Marks, managing director of fresh produce company Barfoots of Botley, said Britain’s weather patterns had become “more Continental than maritime”, with long dry spells punctuated by heavy downpours that often run off before soaking the soil. “The weather events are becoming more extreme, the distance between them is becoming more extreme, and we’re having to adapt to that,” he said.
Herefordshire farmer Ally Hunter Blair said the combination of a waterlogged winter followed by severe dryness was “the worst combination of weather for our sort of farms”. The result, he said, is “a loss-making year by some margin – survive and hope that next year is better.”
Clarkson added that without the income from his adjacent pub and farm shop, his farm could not survive. “Most farms don’t have TV shows to keep them going,” he said.
Farmers’ financial woes have been compounded by policy changes in last year’s Labour Budget, which raised employer National Insurance contributions, increased the minimum wage, and altered inheritance tax relief for agricultural properties – a move critics say could threaten family-run farms. Clarkson was among those protesting the inheritance tax changes last year.
National Farmers Union (NFU) crop board chair Jamie Burrows said the weather extremes of recent years – heavy rain in 2024 and extreme dryness in 2025 – are becoming “more pronounced and more regular”. He called for investment in climate adaptation and resilient crop varieties to help farmers “safeguard our ability to feed the nation, weather market volatility and adapt to a changing climate”.
Jamie Young
Jamie is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, bringing over a decade of experience in UK SME business reporting.
Jamie holds a degree in Business Administration and regularly participates in industry conferences and workshops.
When not reporting on the latest business developments, Jamie is passionate about mentoring up-and-coming journalists and entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation of business leaders.