As communities across the United Reformed Church celebrate Harvest this autumn, Christians are being encouraged to include rural communities in their prayers.

From a winter remembered for ‘The beast from the east’ to a prolonged drought over the summer, the extreme weather has brought hardship to farmers.

The Revd Elizabeth Clarke, United Reformed Church and Methodist Rural Officer for Germinate: The Arthur Rank Centre, has collated ideas for harvest services, and written prayers to help churches focus on the realities of food production this Harvest season.

Explaining the current plight of farmers, she says: ‘The “Beast from the East” arrived at lambing time and there were losses of new lambs and ewes as well as cattle. This resulted in cash flow problems with fewer lambs to sell in the autumn and higher prices for replacement ewes. The prolonged drought in some areas has meant that farmers are now feeding their livestock with forage made for the winter months, as there wasn’t enough nutritious grass. Many will not have been able to produce as much silage (animal feed) as normal and this coupled with early feeding may well lead to shortages and higher prices, resulting in further problems when hay/silage stocks run out before the winter is over. This in turn causes more stress and financial pressures.’

In the arable sector, the cold spring forced farmers to sow crops late, the dry summer to harvest crops early. The lack of rain also caused variations in the quantity and quality of grains, fruit and vegetables.

Ms Clarke continued: ‘You may wonder why any of this is important since most people do not farm, but we do all eat, so the state of UK agriculture matters to us.’

She adds that the problems are not just confined to the UK but other European countries like Russia and the Ukraine.

‘As a global community we need to increase food production if we are going to feed a projected population of nine billion,’ she continues. ‘Years like this remind us how vulnerable our food supply is and can raise serious ethical questions as to how all will be fed rather than just the richer countries. Please do celebrate food this harvest but be aware that some people in rural communities have huge anxiety at present. Talk to the farmers in your communities and pray for them.’

The resources can be found in Ms Clarke’s blog ‘All is safely gathered in?’

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