Climate resilience on-farm action planner: Wetter winters and extreme rainfall

Here are some of the impacts of wetter winters and extreme rainfall and the actions you can take using our Climate resilience on-farm action planner.

Warmer, wetter winters can be expected in the future. By mid-century, the average winter rainfall is expected to be approximately 5% wetter and daily rainfall could be 10% more intense compared with the long-term average (1981–2010).

Potential impacts of this include:

• Surface water flooding/flash floods
• Power failure
• Animal welfare issues
• Infrastructure damage
• Restricted access
• Soil compaction and poaching
• Soakaways and swales overwhelmed
• Stress causing early calving and lambing

Actions:

• Modify stock movement routes and distances and consideration of land conditions to reduce wider impacts on soils
• Additional housing capacity of stock over the winter to rest grazing land and provision for lambing and calving
• Maintain field ditches and drains regularly and consider investing in upgraded systems for poorly drained or flood-prone fields
• Provide emergency pumps to remove floodwater and identifying the lowest-risk location for discharge of floodwaters
• Map and install additional surface water drains or soakaways if necessary
• Increase surface water storage capacity such as temporary lagoons or retention ponds
• Install diverter valves to alternative areas as appropriate
• To reduce soil compaction, consider nature-based solutions, e.g. use of multispecies swards to improve water-holding capacity of soils to minimise water logging, or a machinery solution, e.g. use of or investing in tracks or limiting machinery movement
• Keep farm contingency plans up to date

Excess water could cause leaching and run-off from livestock manures.

• Manage slurry stores throughout the year; calculate requirements using our Slurry Wizard tool
• Consider installing slurry store covers. Calculate the need for and install additional slurry storage if required. Or consider disposal routes, alternative outlets such as anaerobic digestion

There is potential for pollution from contaminated floodwater and surface water run-off.

• Store all chemicals securely following assurance and regulatory requirements
• Manage drainage systems, including any interceptors, to avoid uncontrolled release of pollutants

• Clear gutters of debris
• Upgrade gutters for a larger capacity

• Change foot dips for dips with a cover to keep out rainwater

• Provide a fresh trough of clean water or empty and clean existing troughs to discourage stock drinking from flood water
• Test microbiological quality of water at the point of supply if necessary

• Elevate silage bales and hay
• Assess feed for spoilage as it could be contaminated, which can cause health problems through toxicity or infections
• Assess feed stocks to understand whether you have a deficit based on current livestock numbers and feed supply
• Test forage and soil once water has receded to check for nutrient levels or contamination and identify any actions required

There is a risk of on-farm flooding if the water level in the adjacent ditch rises above the discharge pipe, causing backflow to the farm

• Raise the level of the discharge pipe to the ditch
• Install a non-return valve in the discharge pipe
• Continue drainage ditch maintenance

• Build winter water storage facilities/reservoirs to take advantage of periods of heavy rainfall and store rainwater