Farmers call for Truss and Sunak to tackle ‘immoral’ water wastage

Cattle graze on dried-out grass on Dorney Common, Buckinghamshire. Temperatures are expected to rise to 35C by the weekend as the heatwave returns. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Rex/Shutterstock

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak must set out emergency water plans to tackle “immoral” wastage, the president of the National Farmers’ Union has said.

Farmers fear their crops will be harmed, or even fail, due to the recent dry weather. If there is not significant rainfall this autumn and winter, drained reservoirs and empty rivers will not refill sufficiently for a lot of farming to be viable next year. And next year’s potential drought could be more severe than this summer’s arid conditions.