How the drought hit UK farms: Half the harvest, double the bills

The Cotswolds was badly hit by the drought, leaving grazing pastures brown and without any nutrition for the cows. So like many farmers, the Godwins had to open their sileage planned for the winter and buy in feed to boost their cows diets.

"Altogether it cost us around £100,000," Godwin explains. "We also had a drop in production yields, that's around £20,000.

"On top of that, cows suffered more lameness, lower fertility, more mastitis. They really did not enjoy the…