The impact of seasonal flooding on agriculture: The spring 2012 floods in Somerset, England

Abstract

Exceptional rainfall in spring 2012 caused widespread flooding and damage to agricultural grasslands in Somerset in south western England, much of them farmed under agri-environment agreements. The seasonal timing of the flood and its relatively long duration (in excess of 4 weeks in some areas) led to a serious loss of grazing and winter feed in 2012. A survey of farmers, combined with the development of a framework to estimate the impact of seasonal flooding, identified the effects on farm businesses and the ways that farmers coped. Impacts on agri-environment outcomes were valued at the cost of funding stewardship schemes. The methods and estimates can help inform strategies to deal with changes in flood risk in areas of agricultural and environmental interest, whether induced by changes in catchment land use or climate. © 2013 The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.