Farmers' gruelling winter could see hike in salad price

The price of British-grown salad is likely to rise this summer as farmers count the cost of a long and gruelling winter.

The 'Beast from the East' that hit in early March grabbed the headlines but the prolonged cold and wet weather has left arable and livestock farmers across the UK with failing crops, dead animals and rising production costs.

Salad growers are among the worst affected.

With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) 16 million spring onions growing in one of his fields south of Worcester, Adam Lockwood explained that his crops, having stood in the fields all winter, are well behind.

His teams have also been unable to sow new seeds because the fields have been so waterlogged.

He told Sky News: "We were due to start in the middle of February.

"We didn't start drilling until the middle of March, so we are a month behind.

"With growers that are growing lettuces or brassica plants, where they have got seed being propagated in nurseries and then being transplanted in the fields, they are looking at throwing weeks' worth of it away - which is a massive cost and massive impact on businesses.

"It will definitely have a knock-on effect."

At one stage this winter, the snow was blowing at such an angle it was getting under the roof tiles and settling inside Richard Walters' lambing barns on his farm near Studley in Warwickshire.

Livestock farmers have also been hit by rising electricity, fuel and feed prices, but it is the loss of ewes and lambs that hurts Mr Walters the most.

"The British consumer shops with their wallet so they are not going to remember six months back... it was one of the hardest winters we can recall here.

"We are not in the business of complaining but some farms really need a bit more extra help."

Weather forecaster Simon Keeling, who supplies weather data to farms all over the UK, said: "It's probably the most snow over the whole season that we have had going back to 1989... but the British weather does always change.

"What causes it is too hard to say categorically... but we have actually seen global temperatures fall over the last couple of months. But that is not to deny the long-term trend is upwards - it is."

Brighter (Stockholm: BRIG.ST - news) warmer weather is forecast to dominate much of the UK for the next week.