FARMERS in Oxfordshire are concerned a lack of rain this spring could lead to the harvest being 30 per cent down on previous years.

March was the driest March in the county since 1961, and the sixth driest in more than 100 years.

Rainfall was just 7.7mm, compared to an average of 52.3mm.

Charles Dingwall, county chairman of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire branch of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “This is a real concern.

“The reason is that the plant is young at the moment and it is trying to establish itself and grow.

“A young plant needs water to gain in strength.”

Mr Dingwall, an arable farmer, has run Lyford Grange, near Wantage, for the past 15 years. His family have farmed the land for about 50 years.

He said: “We are very concerned about the yield for this year’s harvest. And one rainfall is not enough. We need good, sustained rain.

“Last year, we had doubts about the yields and that was vindicated when the harvest was down 30 per cent. We could have a similar situation this year if there is no rain.

“And this is a very important time for dairy farmers too, who need good grass for their livestock.

“At the moment they are asking themselves if they are going to have good sileage, hay or enough straw to satisfy their animals.”

Yesterday it was revealed central England had its warmest April in 350 years, but Thames Water said it was not expecting to put water restrictions in place.

Kevin Rillie, group secretary for the NFU, said: “I don’t think the lack of rain is a major concern yet, but if we don’t get some shortly, it will become a problem.

“Give it another week to 10 days. If we don’t get any rain after that, then we’ll start to really see the difference.”

Mr Rillie said maize was likely to suffer the most, along with other arable crops.

He said:”You never get the perfect year, there will probably never be a year without any problems.

“But the bulk just isn’t there. Doubtless there will be some impact, it’s just a question of how much rain we get.”

Met Office spokesman Barry Gromett said: “In the first two weeks of April, there was just 3.3mm of rain, which is only seven per cent of the month’s average rainfall.

“It has continued to be very dry and the forecast until the end of the month is similar. But in the month ahead, there is nothing in the forecast which suggests prolonged rain is likely.”

Natalie Slater, spokesman for Thames Water, said: “Our reservoirs are more than 95 per cent full, which is about what we would expect for the time of year.

“Although we do not see the need for any water restrictions this year, we continue to encourage our customers to use water wisely.”

The highest average April temperature in Oxfordshire was 17.2C in 2007.

In the first two weeks of this April, the average temperature was 16.7C. The driest April in Oxfordshire was in 1912, when the average rainfall was 1.9mm.

There was just 3.3mm of rain in the first two weeks of last month.