Despite this summer’s floods, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has launched a report to show how farmers are working to conserve one of nature’s most precious resources - water.

The report, entitled Water Matters, reveals how farmers are spending more than £3.3 million on extra water efficiency measures and how NFU members are adapting to contrary weather conditions.

The report is the result of a national survey, which asked 1,500 farmers and growers where and how they are saving water in the context of last year’s low rainfall and dry summer. Water saving devises included rainwater harvesting, insulating pipes, employing leak detection systems and closing unused pipes in the winter, as well as using techniques such as trickle irrigation.

The report features four case studies, some of which were commended in this year’s Water Efficiency awards, with details of how their on-farm innovation is conserving and saving one of their most value natural commodities - as well as saving them money.

The NFU is looking to the government to support additional localised reservoirs to store water during times of heavy flow, as well as review its current drainage and river management policies. In the light of climate change the NFU is calling for more awareness into what produce the UK imports from water-scarce areas of the world, which could have been grown from a rain-fed or partly irrigated alternative at home.