Farmers in Northamptonshire are struggling to cope with the “worst spring weather in a generation” which has ruined crops and killed livestock.
The county has experienced its coldest March since 1962 and many fields have been covered by snow at a time when dry, sunny conditions are needed to help crops grow.
Alison Pratt, spokesman for the East Midlands branch of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), said the conditions for farming in the past few months had been the “worst in living memory” for many farmers in the county.
Mrs Pratt said there had been reports of newly born lambs suffocating in the snow and many crops were being ruined by the unseasonably cold weather.
She said: “Livestock producers do not expect to have so much snow on the ground at this time of year and this is making it very difficult for the lambing season.
“Little lambs don’t cope well in the snow and it can be easy for them to become buried. It is also a problem for other livestock farmers as they have to keep their cattle inside more and give them extra food which is expensive.”
Mrs Pratt said arable farmers were facing up to the prospect of a second failed harvest as crops had already been replanted due to the excessive amount of rainfall at the end of last year.
Mrs Pratt said: “We really need some warm spring weather as the longer it takes for the seeds to germinate the less chance there is of it being a good harvest.
“Farmers have said it is the worst spring in living memory.”
An award-winning rapeseed oil producer in Northamptonshire may be hit by a second ‘failed’ crop as a result of the extremely cold and wet spring weather.
Duncan Farrington, who runs Farrington Oils, based in Hargrave, near Wellingborough, said he was struggling to deal with an “18-month winter” of damp, cold weather.
Mr Farrington said: “If it does not warm up then our second crop may fail and that would be a disaster.”