Jamie Burrows, an arable farmer in Norfolk and chair of the crops board at the National Farmers' Union, said many decent, capable farmers were asking how they could finance the crop they were meant to be planting. "Some of these businesses aren't going to make it," he said. "It is very, very difficult."
Burrows was cultivating fields hardened and dried out during the long, hot summer. Machinery requires fuel, and red diesel used by agricultural vehicles has almost doubled in price since the conflict in Iran began in late February. The cost of most fertilisers used to grow crops and feed for animals has also soared by about 20% over the same period.
These pressures add to a succession of heatwaves and drought conditions during the UK's hottest summer on record, which resulted in England's worst recorded cereals harvest, according to official production estimates.
Farmers are adding their voices to a chorus of warnings about the vulnerability of the UK's food supply. Food experts, academics, businesses and the National Audit Office have in recent weeks called on the government to work on making the UK's food system more resilient. The climate crisis, this year's huge El Niño weather pattern, geopolitical shocks, energy outages and cyber-attacks are all considered threats to food chain security.