Bucks farmers not in the clear despite recent rain

Bucks Radio chatted to National Farmer's Union president Tom Bradshaw and Bucks chair Alex Nelms about drought impact.

It might have rained yesterday at the Bucks County Show but the National Farmer's Union warn it doesn't mean our farmers are in the clear.

Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire chair Alex Nelms told us the showers "won't be enough to correct or refill all the lack of rain in the last few months."

He explained that it's not just the immediate effects of drought farmers have to be worried about, with knock-on effects on cash-flow and animal feed meaning repercussions are the thing "weighing on many farmer's minds at the moment". 

With a 196% rise in outdoor fires in Bucks this summer, he described fires as devastating and terrifying for farmers, who have had to take extra precautions not typical for them, including putting cultivators and water bowsers on site to support fire services if needed. Alex also said fires have felt like something "always there in the background this year", much more so than any previous years. 

NFU president Tom Bradshaw similarly said recent showers aren't enough, describing it as a "dust dampener" which "hasn't ended the drought as far as we're concerned".

He added: "We're at the position now where arable farmers are planting next year's crop and this rainfall at the moment is absolutely crucial to dictate whether or not we'll be able to plant oilseed rape in the fields, we have to drill that probably by the 10th September at the latest.

"So the drought's already had a dramatic impact on 2026 whether that's cereal yields in your wheat and your barley, whether it's the forage production of maize and grass and now it's gonna have knock-on impacts if we don't get that rain now into 2027, so it's a really worrying time for farmers and certainly a few spots of rain overnight isn't going to fix that." 

Tom described the importance of events like the Bucks County show, calling them "a great opportunity for farmers to come together, to have that opportunity just to make sure they realise they're not alone and that everybody else is facing the same challenges." 

He also said it's an essential chance to speak to MPs to make sure they know what farming needs. He explained it's important to get cross-party support and said they'd seen politicians of all parties at the County Show, describing local MP Greg Smith - who attended the NFU roundtable at the show - as "a real supporter of his constituency" and that farmers in MidBucks feel he's spoken up for them well in Westminster.

You can hear our full chats with both Alex Nelms:

and Tom Bradshaw below, where they also tell us what Bucks residents can do to support their farmers.