Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers An emergency meeting this week
of farmers, retailers and the government has been prompted by
growing concerns about the lack of rain and its effects on this
year’s UK crop yields. It is calculated that up to 85% of the
UK’s cereal crops have been affected, with around 20% of winter
wheat and barley crops severely hit but vegetable growers are
also concerned. The worst affected areas of the country have
been East Anglia and Lincolnshire and there is a knock-on effect
to livestock farmers who are finding it increasingly hard to get
adequate supplies of grain to feed their animals. The G20 group
of governments also has food high on its agenda when it next
meets on June 22 amid concern about growing hunger around the
world. This has been attributed to a combination of steadily
rising prices for basics caused by commodity price speculation,
a pattern of extreme weather conditions affecting farming yields
and fierce competition for available land between biofuels and
food productio