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Water Security: Could Better Water Management Be Key to Future Farming?
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As drought continues to put pressure on farms across the UK and Europe, the question of how agriculture can secure enough water to maintain food production is becoming increasingly urgent. The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is calling for a fundamental rethink of how water is managed, arguing that domestic food production should be treated as part of the UK’s critical infrastructure. With increasingly hot and dry summers becoming a feature of the changing climate, farmers and growers need the ability to access and store water when it is available, so it can be used when crops need it most.
The issue has become particularly pressing following one of the most severe droughts many farmers have experienced, with the impact extending well beyond the UK. Scorching temperatures and widespread wildfires across countries including France and Spain are highlighting the risks of relying too heavily on international food supplies.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said the UK could not simply rely on global markets to fill the gap if domestic production is affected by drought. “This is one of the most severe droughts many farmers and growers have lived through,” he said. “While retailers are used to managing variations in global supply, we're not going to be able to trade our way through this potential crisis.”
Restrictions on water abstraction
The scale of the challenge is already being reflected in restrictions on agricultural water use. According to the Environment Agency, low river flows have resulted in 1,353 abstraction licence restrictions, at a time when demand for irrigation remains high. Prolonged dry weather is already having a significant impact on farming, with reports of earlier cereal harvesting, reduced crop yields, increased field fires and livestock farmers using winter forage reserves earlier than usual.
For arable businesses, the implications are particularly significant. Water availability can influence crop establishment, yield potential and quality, while increasingly unpredictable weather patterns make it harder to plan production around historical rainfall patterns. The NFU is therefore calling for greater flexibility within abstraction licences, allowing farmers to take and store water during periods of rainfall so it can be used during times of shortage. It is also calling for changes to the planning system to make it quicker and easier for farmers to construct on-farm reservoirs, alongside greater financial support for water storage.
Building resilience through water storage
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has also warned that planning and abstraction licensing systems can make reservoir construction unnecessarily complicated and expensive. CLA President Gavin Lane highlighted the costs farmers can face before construction can even begin, with some businesses spending an average of £45,000 obtaining permissions for a farm reservoir.
While some applications can progress quickly through existing permitted development rights, others can take years or require expensive additional surveys. The CLA is calling for a dedicated permitted development right for farm reservoirs, alongside changes to abstraction licensing and improved access to finance and grants.
Innovation will be critical
Water security is increasingly becoming a strategic issue for agriculture rather than simply an operational challenge for individual farms. Climate change is making traditional weather patterns less reliable, with longer periods of drought increasingly followed by intense rainfall. This can create a situation where water is scarce when crops need it but abundant when soils cannot absorb it.
This creates a strong case for investment in infrastructure, technology and farm-level water management. Reservoirs are just one part of the solution. Improved irrigation efficiency, soil management, precision agriculture, drought-tolerant varieties and better weather forecasting could all help farmers produce more with less water.
Advances in precision farming are already allowing growers to collect increasingly detailed information about their soils and crops. Combining this data with weather information and irrigation technology could allow water to be applied more accurately, reducing waste while ensuring crops receive what they need at critical growth stages. At the same time, plant scientists are developing varieties that can tolerate drought and heat more effectively, potentially giving farmers crops better suited to future conditions.
Preparing for the next dry summer
As climate patterns continue to shift, preparing for drought after it arrives will become increasingly difficult. Building resilience requires investment and planning before the next crisis hits. For the arable sector, that means considering everything from where water comes from and how it is stored, to how efficiently it is applied and which crops and varieties are best suited to future conditions.
These are exactly the issues that will shape the future of crop production and will be central to conversations at CropTec. From crop science and drought resilience to precision technology, soil management and future farming systems, CropTec provides a forum for sharing knowledge and discovering new approaches to some of the biggest challenges facing the sector.
Join us at CropTec 2027 and be part of the conversation shaping the future of UK food production.