English farmers are set to receive £65 million in additional support as the UK government aims to address the ongoing drought that is affecting the agricultural sector.

The funding will see £50 million added on to the budget of this year's Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), which rewards farmers in England for carrying out actions that benefit the environment.

The remaining £15 million has been allocated for the development of on-farm reservoirs, helping farms become more resilient to future droughts.

This announcement comes after the driest July on record in England and the third drought in five years, according to the UK government.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham visited farms in the south-west of England over the weekend, hearing from farmers "who brought in the earliest harvest of their working lives" and suffered reduced yields due to drought conditions.

Burnham said: "The ability to grow our own food is national security, and I will treat it that way.

"Farmers are at the sharp end of a changing climate, and they should not be carrying that risk alone," he added.

Alongside the £65 million in funding, the UK government noted that it is also granting more flexibility for farmers affected by drought in environmental schemes, such as SFI.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) outlined that farmers who are paid to look after wildlife habitat on parts of their land are normally barred from grazing or cutting it until later in the year.

However, with grass barely growing, Defra has now allowed farmers to use this protected land to feed their cattle, so long as they do not damage the habitat.

The department added that it is introducing measures to make it easier for farmers to build on-farm reservoirs, including "reducing unnecessary barriers and updating planning guidance."