Farmers have signed an open letter calling on future governments to pay them fairly for the role they play in protecting nearby towns and villages when rivers breach their banks. The letter also calls on the Environment Agency to deliver a proactive plan of management, as well as re-investment in the watercourses and flood defences it's responsible for. It follows the recent devastation caused by Storms Babet and Ciarán which have left vast areas of productive farmland under water. Farmers and growers have struggled to get crops out of the ground for this season, with many still unable to plant autumn crops for next year. Of the farmers and growers who signed the NFU's open letter, around 1,000 said they had been directly impacted by flooding. And with climate change one of industry's biggest challenges, they fear it's inevitable that storms will become more frequent and more powerful. “In the past few weeks we have once more seen hundreds of farms across the country face the ...
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