All a bit of a disaster: Farmer tells of heat and dry weather impact
Angela Serino is the director of Beetle Bank Open Farm & Wild Sanctuary in York – a small, open, working farm where the public can visit the animals.
Beetle Bank – which has goats, pigs, alpacas and rabbits – grows its own hay on ten acres of land.
But with Yorkshire experiencing one of its driest years on record, Ms Serino said Beetle Bank will not be able to operate as usual.
'This year we're expecting to have less than a quarter of the hay that we usually have,' she told the PA news agency.
'Nobody else seems interested around here but it's stressing me out big time because our animals are part of the system. You can't just be without them, and we can't be without food for them.'
She continued: 'It's going to mean more animals will have to go than usual.
'Winter's always a bad time for us because we have very little income coming in and now we'll have a massive, massive food bill to find the money for as well because we'll have to feed our animals hard food and hope that there's plenty of that about.'
Beetle Bank usually produces around 50 to 70 big bales of hay a year.
(Image: Beetle Bank Open Farm /PA Wire)
'I'm not expecting to have more than about ten this year looking at the fields,' Ms Serino said.
'That's a couple of thousands of pounds down the drain before you get going never mind the feed that you have to buy in to replace that.'
The farm director has been in contact with other farmers in the area who have told her they will have 'very little' hay for sale this year.
She told PA that Beetle Bank is looking into an irrigation system to mitigate the impact from dry and hot weather if the same conditions return next year.
Ms Serino said: 'Strangely enough I've been thinking about it all spring – this spring when it was really hot and dry, and I was thinking should I go out, should I buy a water canon of some description and you just think that this is Britain and it will change.
(Image: Beetle Bank Open Farm /PA Wire)
'You don't want to spend £5,000 on some sort of water system that sprinkles the fields when you don't have to and at the end of the day I should have just gone and done it then I wouldn't be in the state I'm in today.
'It's all a bit of a disaster to be honest.
'I don't remember being stressed about the winter in the summer before, except for 2019 where it poured with rain from the middle of middle of May until, god, I think February.'
Ms Serino is not currently getting any support from the Government, saying it 'doesn't care about farming'.
(Image: Beetle Bank Open Farm /PA Wire)
'In an ideal world, they could go around and give us all a grant for the machinery we need to make what we need,' she said.
'There was a grant going not long ago but it's so difficult to actually apply for these things. There's so many hoops you've got to jump through to actually get something and you have to match the funding.
'Well, if you don't have any money it's very difficult to match funding.
'It's difficult times, and farming is not good.'
Besides the issues with hay yields, Ms Serino said the farm has used 'an awful lot more water than usual' this year and has struggled to put up fencing it needed because the ground is 'like a rock'.
The hot weather has also impacted revenue from visitors.
'Today and yesterday, we've only half the customers we should have because they don't like this weather,' Ms Serino told PA.
'So when it gets this hot, it has an effect on your revenue as well as your costs.
'We are way down on revenue today. This will be one of the worst Saturdays we've had in a long time.'
She said the climate has gone 'completely upside down inside out' in the last five or six years.
'I just sort of saw it coming, but not properly,' she said. 'I saw something coming but not the actual extent that it is until you're sat on the doorstep with it.
'It's difficult to predict but I didn't really predict that you'd have months and months of no rain.
'I mean, every week you look at the weather and it says rain. I look on my phone now and it says it's raining Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and it just doesn't rain.'
Yorkshire and the North East has seen an average of just 242.8mm of rain so far in 2025 – less than half the amount that had fallen by this stage last year (542.3mm).
Cumulative rainfall so far this year is the lowest for this part of the country since 1959, when 238.1mm had fallen by July 9.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Swimming warning over sewage leak at Aberdeen beach
People are being advised to avoid swimming and paddling at Aberdeen beach after sewage was discharged into the sea. The spill happened during a power outage at Nigg Waste Water Treatment Works, which also caused a power cut in the area on Friday. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said power had been restored but confirmed sewage was discharged into the sea close to Aberdeen harbour. A spokesperson said its "temporary guidance" was to avoid bathing in the area until it was satisfied that the situation had returned to normal. More stories from North East Scotland, Orkney and Shetland Listen to news from North East Scotland on BBC Sounds
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sunken structure warning as reservoir levels fall
Sightseers have been warned to keep to paths around reservoirs as previously sunken structures become exposed due to falling water levels. Yorkshire Water's Alastair Harvey also said that while taking a dip in reservoirs during hot weather may seem enticing for some, it also brought danger and should not be risked. The firm announced a hosepipe ban earlier in July and said reservoir levels stood at just over 50% - "significantly below" the average for early July, which is nearer 80%. "We'd advise sticking to the walking routes on public footpaths and don't be tempted to go for a dip in the shallows or walk on the newly exposed embankment, as there can be risks of sinking mud," Mr Harvey said. Yorkshire Water owns and manages about 120 reservoirs, including Langsett Reservoir near Barnsley, Ogden Reservoir in Halifax and Doe Park Reservoir in Bradford. Baitings Reservoir near Ripponden is notable for its sunken bridge but the firm warned it should not be crossed. Similarly, Thruscross Reservoir near Harrogate hides the submerged village of West End, which is visible when water levels drop but should only be viewed from a distance and not approached. Mr Harvey reiterated previous warning about not swimming in reservoirs, citing cold water shock, underwater hazards and more. "Sadly, we've seen incidents in Yorkshire when people have lost their lives in reservoirs and other open water," he said. Over the summer, Yorkshire Water's ranger teams will be engaging with reservoir visitors on water safety, providing information about the sites and encouraging people to follow the Countryside Code. The company has asked people to refrain from using disposable barbecues or starting fires and has asked visitors to take litter home and keep dogs on leads, especially around livestock. "We want people across Yorkshire and beyond to enjoy our reservoirs and surrounding countryside, but it's important that people consider their behaviours and do not take risks that could impact the local natural environment and wildlife, or that puts them in harm's way," Mr Harvey said. The firm said anti-social behaviour should be reported to the police and anyone who saw a fire or someone in need of help to call 999. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North More stories like this Hosepipe ban remains despite heavy rainfall Disabilities, paddling pools and other hosepipe ban questions answered UK's first hosepipe ban 'to last until winter' Related internet links Yorkshire Water


New York Times
7 hours ago
- New York Times
Dry Taps, Empty Lakes, Shuttered Cities: A Water Crisis Batters Iran
Some of Iran's deepest reservoirs have shrunk to shallow ponds. Water pressure is so low in some cities that taps in apartment buildings run dry for hours on end. People desperately search for water tanks, and hoard every drop they can find. Temperatures are so high that one day last month a part of Iran saw a heat index of 149 degrees Fahrenheit, according to sites that track extreme weather, making it one of the hottest places on Earth. Iran is in the throes of an acute water crisis, on top of a monthslong energy shortage that has prompted daily scheduled power cuts across the country. Iranians still recovering from a 12-day war with Israel and the United States last month must now confront life without the basics. The government announced this week that many reservoirs, particularly those that supply the capital, Tehran, with drinking water, were drying out. Water supplies for Tehran are predicted to run out in just a few weeks, officials said, pleading with the public to reduce water consumption. 'The water crisis is more serious than what is being talked about today, and if we do not make urgent decisions today, we will face a situation in the future that cannot be cured,' President Masoud Pezeshkian said at a cabinet meeting on Monday, adding, 'We cannot continue this way.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.