30 Jul 2026
Farmers press for water reform as drought bites
Photo credit: Md. Hasanuzzaman Himel As drought spreads across half of England, the National Farmers’ Union has called for changes to abstraction rules and planning to protect food production. Low river flows have driven 1,506 restrictions on abstraction licences, and high irrigation demand is rapidly depleting farm reservoirs, leaving the union warning that growers […]