Water efficiency is a priority for farmers
A report reveals that, during the wettest summer ever, farmers worked hard to conserve water


A report by the National Farmers? Union has revealed that farmers are now spending over £3million on water efficiency measures, with 88 per cent of them using at least one method of saving water, such as pipe insulation and water leak detectors.
The ?Water Matters? survey involved 1,500 farmers and growers.
In a statement, NFU President Peter Kendall said: ?With recurrent droughts in the south east, and despite this year?s dreadfully wet summer, water is going be increasingly important to the farming industry and its potential to supply the nation with a fresh and secure food supply.?
It has indeed been a wet summer; it has been revealed today that this summer is looking to be the wettest since records began.
Provisional Met Office figures put UK rainfall at 358.5mm (14.114in), which is just ahead of the 1956 figure of 358.4mm (14.110in), although this year?s total has yet to be confirmed.
Sign up for the Country Life Newsletter
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.
-
Vertigo at Victoria Falls, a sunset surrounded by lions and swimming in the Nile: A journey from Cape Town to Cairo
Why do we travel and who inspires us to do so? Chris Wallace went in search of answers on his own epic journey the length of Africa.
By Christopher Wallace
-
A gorgeous Scottish cottage with contemporary interiors on the bonny banks of the River Tay
Carnliath on the edge of Strathtay is a delightful family home set in sensational scenery.
By James Fisher