FARMERS across the eastern region are being hit by increased watering costs as they endeavour to cope with a record dry spring.
The continued warm spell is forcing farmers to make the earliest start ever to irrigate crops of cereals and potatoes.
The Met Office’s provisional figures show that it has been the second driest March since 1910 in East Anglia. And April could be heading into the record books without any significant rainfall forecast until late next week at the earliest.
Rainfall for March and April in Norfolk was 17.1mm, 20pc of the long-term average, and in Suffolk 9.3mm, or 10pc.
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