Overview

• Growers in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and East Yorkshire processed up to 30% fewer peas this season, with pod counts falling from eight peas to as few as three.
• England’s driest spring in over a century, record June heat and an aphid surge combined to devastate crop health.
• Heat and dry winds shrank daily harvesting windows to just six–12 hours, forcing farmers to race against accelerated pod maturation.
• With stocks severely depleted, supermarkets are expected to reduce frozen pea bag sizes without lowering prices.
• Farmer bodies and research organisations are calling on ministers to upgrade water infrastructure, boost R&D funding and develop drought-tolerant pea varieties to secure future supplies.