"I can't remember ever finishing a harvest in July," says Mark Weekes, a farmer who grows 700 acres of winter wheat, barley and oats near Exeter. Usually Mr Weekes cuts his crop about three weeks later. But hot, dry weather has ripened his grain faster and left it in a worse state. His fields have yielded a third less wheat and nearly two-fifths less barley than normal. "A lot has just shrivelled," he says.

“我不记得有哪次是在七月份就完成收割的，”马克·威克斯说。他在埃克塞特附近种植了700英亩的冬小麦、大麦和燕麦。 通常威克斯先生大约晚三周才收割作物。 但炎热干燥的天气让谷物提前成熟，并且品质变差。 他的田地小麦减产三分之一，大麦减产近五分之二。 “很多都干瘪了，”他说。

British crops have been bred to grow in a moderately wet and mild climate. This year's weather has been anything but. A very wet winter sapped nutrients from soils. A very dry summer sapped moisture. In July Britain had just 10% of the typical rainfall for the month. The Environment Agency declared half of England in drought.

英国的作物培育一直针对温和湿润的中等气候。 今年的天气却截然不同。 多雨的冬季耗尽了土壤中的养分。 干燥的夏季又蒸发了水分。 今年7月，英国的降雨量仅为该月平均水平的10%。 环境署宣布英格兰一半地区处于干旱状态。

Across Britain winter wheat has been cut early—its earliest harvest since 1976. Over half had been harvested by July 26th, compared with 11% a year earlier, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board. Wheat yields are down by nearly 16% on average, compared with the country's ten-year mean. In the east of England, where soils are light, farmers have reported yields down by half.

全英冬小麦收割提前——这是自1976年以来最早的一次收割。 根据农业与园艺发展委员会的数据，截至7月26日，超过一半的冬小麦已完成收割，而去年同期仅为11%。 小麦平均产量比该国十年均值下降了近16%。 在英格兰东部土壤较贫瘠的地区，农民报告产量减半。

Shoppers are unlikely to see shortages, though. About half of the wheat grown in Britain is used for animal feed. Much of the rest is milled for bread and biscuits. Britain already imports about 15% of its milling wheat, and can import more. The real cost will be borne by farmers. Last year's drought cost arable farmers over £800m ($1.1bn) in lost earnings, for example—nearly a quarter of the cereal sector's annual value, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit.

不过，消费者不太可能看到缺货的情况。 英国种植的小麦约有一半用作动物饲料。 其余大部分磨粉用于制作面包和饼干。 英国已经进口约15%的制粉小麦，并且可以进口更多。 真正的损失将由农民承担。 例如，根据能源与气候情报单位的统计，去年的干旱给种植业农民造成了超过8亿英镑（约合11亿美元）的收入损失——几乎占谷物行业年度价值的四分之一。

"Our current situation is analogous to when British settlers landed in Australia in 1788 and saw their crops flounder in the heat," says Gail Taylor of University College London. Wheat was then bred to withstand dry conditions; it is now Australia's most valuable crop. British farmers can adapt, too. They can plant varieties more resilient to drought. And rather than relying on rain they could use irrigation technology, as in California, typically deemed too costly—until now.

“我们目前的处境，与1788年英国殖民者抵达澳大利亚时看到作物在酷热中挣扎的情况类似，”伦敦大学学院的盖尔·泰勒表示。 后来培育出的小麦能够抵御干旱条件，如今已成为澳大利亚最有价值的作物。 英国农民同样可以适应变化。 他们可以种植更耐旱的品种。 也可以像加利福尼亚那样使用灌溉技术——此前人们普遍认为成本过高，但如今情况已有所不同