The topic of conversation among farmers so far in 2026 has, refreshingly, moved away from tax and back to the traditional subject of the weather.
Most farm weather station readings for January make grim reading, and this local data is backed up by the Met Office official statistics, which show that much of the south received 188 per cent of the long-term average rainfall for the month.
The result is that the ground in many lower-lying areas is now saturated, and unless there is some respite and a period of drier weather, this will have a knock-on effect on crops and grass growth.
The immediate concern for many people is that of flooding.
Travelling around the South of England, it is always evident to me how much ditch maintenance and general drainage work is undertaken by farmers and landowners.
Without this maintenance, water backs up in areas that are harder to manage and poses a threat to property.
As we move toward a world where farmers are paid for habitat benefits rather than output, water management will have to be a major focus.
Traditionally, so much ditch maintenance has been undertaken because ultimately it benefits both the landowner (in terms of protecting soil and crop health) as well as the community; however, without crops to protect, and little thanks for this unappreciated work, I can see many farmers and landowners reducing the amount of ditch work that they will undertake.
If we are to see a continued pattern of increased rainfall (as appears likely), then the double whammy of more rainfall and less ditch maintenance is only likely to worsen flooding events. The most noticeable result, for most of us, is the amount of water that then sits on the highway, causing an increasing number of potholes and then, in turn, punctures.
The difficulty in addressing this is that the responsibility for water management falls across so many different organisations, and there is no easy answer to creating a coordinated approach; however, it is clear that one is needed.
Meanwhile, livestock farmers in the south of England are not just battling the rain; the Free Trade Agreements with other parts of the world are impacting UK producers.
Figures from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade show that New Zealand's exports of Beef products to the UK have increased by 800 per cent from the end of June 2023 to June 2025.
The result of this is that there is an increasingly high chance that when you eat beef, it is just as likely to have travelled halfway around the world as it is to have been produced in the UK.
This is even more likely when eating out because the country of origin of beef used in catering is generally less transparent than that of beef sold in shops.
The reality of open trade is here, and that will put further pressure on the economics of farming in this country. Record rainfall months may be the least of our worries!
Kevin Prince has wide experience of farming and rural business in Hampshire, where he lives near Andover, and across southern England as a Divisional Partner of Brown & Co
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