'Everything is just brown.' How drought has been affecting farms

Children across England and Wales have been telling Newsround how the dry weather has affected the farms they live on.

Large parts of England and Wales have been declared to be in drought earlier this month.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said it had "probably been the hardest summer for British farming in a generation".

From fewer pumpkins to earlier harvests, children in South East Wales, Somerset, Buckinghamshire and Suffolk have told Newsround what changes they have noticed on their farms.

There isn't a single definition of a drought but the term is usually used to describe a long period of dry weather which has an impact on people, nature and the environment.

According to the Environment Agency some are short and intense while others are long and carry on over multiple seasons

On 10 August, almost two thirds of England and the whole of Wales was declared to be in drought.

The rest of England had 'prolonged dry weather' while Scotland and Northern Ireland experienced drier weather than usual.

As the BBC's climate editor, Justin Rowlatt explains: "These droughts can have a really bad impact on wildlife, and they have an impact on farmers as well, because just like plants and animals, farm animals and the crops that we grow need water."

Primrose is nine and helps her parents out on their market garden in East Suffolk.

She told Newsround without rain it's been really hard work on the farm.

Her family grow vegetables like potatoes, pumpkins, celery and lettuces.

Most of these need a lot of water, but with the drought they have had to be careful about using too much.

"Everything's so small because it's not getting watered as much as it needs to.

"We will water celery for two hours. And that could do with like four hours. But we can only do it for two hours because everything else needs watering."

Over in Buckinghamshire, Poppy and James have also noticed the effect of the dry weather.

The farm they live on has cattle, and also crops like oats, barley and wheat

The cattle would usually be eating grass instead they are being fed silage and hay which was being saved for the winter.

For Fergus, 9, in Somerset the biggest impact of the drought has been a virus which has risen because of the hot weather.

Spread by infected midges, Bluetongue is deadly for cattle, sheep and goats.

Trying to tackle it has meant the family of six have had to make savings and reduce their family holiday this summer.

"We've spent a lot of money on the vaccine," says Fergus.

Over in Bannau Brycheiniog, or the Brecon Beacons, in South East Wales, where Lexi, who's 14, and her ten-year-old brother Cam live, the dry weather has come with a cost.

Lexi says the number of lambs born will drop because the sheep haven't has enough grass to eat.

"We would have usually gone on holiday but not this year," she says.

The National Farmers Union represents farmers in England and Wales and wants more support for farmers.

Deputy President of the NFU, Paul Tompkins told Newsround the drought might change the food available to buy in the shops and how much it costs.

"These are really big concerns for farmers because we want to provide plentiful supplies of food all year round. But this year, that is becoming a real challenge."

In Buckinghamshire, Poppy says the crops they planted in the spring haven't produced much grain, because of the lack of rain.

"That means less money for my family to live off and less food for people to buy in the supermarket," she says.

Back in Suffolk, Primrose says people will notice a lot of vegetables are smaller than usual.

"Normally you'd expect a big, nice green [Brussel sprout]" but now they are going to be much smaller at Christmas," she says.

"There won't be as many pumpkins this year," she adds.

Justin Rowlatt, the BBC's Climate Editor says this year's hot weather is just the start.

"Climate change means, and this is what climate scientists tell us, that we're more likely to get hotter, drier summers - like the one we had this year."

It's something that the NFU is taking very seriously.

"As farmers, we're starting to think, OK, if [this is going to continue], how can we adapt our farms to make them a bit more resilient to this hot weather?" says Paul Tompkins from the NFU.

In Somerset, Fergus says they have done some things to try and plan for the future on their farm, including planting more drought-tolerant plants.

"We need a diverse variety of plants, which basically means we need a load of different kinds so that the animals have a healthy diet," he says.

The government has promised more support for farmers in England including making it easier for them to build reservoirs on their farms and to have access to water during extremely dry conditions.

This has been welcomed by the NFU, as a first step to building a system for the future.

Primrose is also thinking about the future - she wants more children to learn about the effects of climate change in schools.

"I experience it happening, but lots of people don't," she says.