Spate of grass fires as heatwave leaves farmers worried

And firefighters are also facing challenges with grass fires starting all over the county.

If the dry summer continues, farming bosses have said crop losses of 5-10 per cent are widely predicted – with some farmers fearing much bigger losses.

Others are also having to protect livestock, which have been suffering from heat stress.

Farmers say they are not yet in crisis because it is still mid-season, but they would welcome rain soon.

Andrew Bebb, who runs a dairy farm at Hanwood, near Shrewsbury, said: “At the end of April it stopped raining after one of the wettest winters on record. I joked about there being a drought this summer.

“The cows were marking the ground which made a mess in the spring.

"The grass was late growing but when it did grow it grew at a tremendous rate.

“The hot weather is not good for livestock. I have had one cow suffer with heat stress. She collapsed and I had to get the hose on her to cool her down.

“Sometimes we use sheeting which holds in the water. I know some people put gazebos over them.

“If you have a light breeze it helps but with no rain on the horizon it is concerning.

“Long term it is not good for dairy cows or milk production.”

Alasdair Taylor, dairy specialist at agricultural group Wynnstay, which has sites in Shrewsbury and Llansantffraid added: “The dry conditions experienced in June has really hampered grass growth and quality, and as a result, an increasing number of producers are already using up first-cut silage.”

“With limited forage left over from last year this is a concern, particularly because yields for the 2018 silage season are already predicted to be down.

“Reduced early grass growth resulted in many producers having to graze ground which would usually have been put up for silage.

"On top of this, the dry conditions are limiting the potential of third and fourth cuts, making a shortage look likely."

Sarah Faulkner, NFU environment and rural affairs adviser, said: “Shropshire farmers are used to dealing with the challenges extreme weather can pose but this year has been testing.

“From an extremely wet winter and spring, to a month where there has been very little rainfall across the county.

“This is another example of the extra volatility food producers are faced with.

“A lack of rainfall has meant poor grass growth for livestock and dairy farmers, and some arable farmers will have seen no recordable rainfall in a key month for their crops.”

Meanwhile firefighters have been dealing with a spate of grass fires around Shropshire. Crews from Bridgnorth and Telford Central Fire Station were called to a blaze involving 200 square metres of grass and undergrowth at The Mount, Deepfield Road, Dawley, on Saturday evening.

Shortly beforehand there was another grass fire at Dale Coppice, Coalbrookdale, which involved 40 square metres of undergrowth. On a railway embankment in Eardington, near Bridgnorth, a fire involved about 30 square metres of fern.

Other blazes involving grass or undergrowth on Saturday happened in Sundorne Road, Shrewsbury, and Briggs Way, Wrockwardine Wood. A crew from Wellington was called to a fire at the rear of Hurleybrook Way, Leegomery, at about 2.30pm on Friday and two crews from Telford were then called to a fire involving 50 square metres of grass and undergrowth at The Mount, Dawley.

Crews were also called to a fire on an embankment at the Severn Valley Railway in Chelmarsh yesterday at 12.17pm.