The scorching summer is already changing what we want to eat - with sales of ice cream soaring with the temperatures.

But now farmers are warning that the record heat wave will affect what we get to eat too.

Producers are warning that Scotland’s staple potato crop - already behind thanks to late and deep snow - will struggle in soil baked by weeks of sun and dried out by the wind.

But the same weather threatening our chips and crisps is great for our berries. Farmers are talking about a bumper crop of soft fruit - provided they can find the labour to pick it.

There are real worries, however, about supplies of fodder going in to next winter with Scotland potentially facing a shortage of straw. Some farmers, insiders warn, may have to sacrifice less productive cattle for mince if feedstock prices rise.

Andrew McCornick, president of the National Farmers Union in Scotland, explained the very mixed picture brought for the sector.

He said: “This year started with a long and expensive winter, caused by a combination of poor weather and a hangover from the previous year’s difficult harvest.

“Many farmers and crofters found themselves chasing their tails for the whole of the winter and most of the spring.

“From an arable perspective, the delays in sowing and crop husbandry during the difficult winter and spring, on top of the delays caused by a poor harvest last year, mean that the true effects of the weather will not be truly known until after this year’s harvest.

“The recent dry spell has been a welcome relief for many of our members who, after suffering a dreadful 12 months of weather previously, have had an opportunity to cut hay and silage, graze livestock outdoors, and generally enjoy the simple pleasures of working outside in good weather.”

The upside is that the winter fodder harvested so far is good but farmers will be watching the weather carefully to see how much hay they have. They may not be able to swap straw for hay if the grass does not grow well.

The Herald:

Scottish arable farmers used to have so much straw left after they gathered their barley that they burnt it. Now many mash the stalks back in to the ground - even as demand from power generators for the product rises.

But Mr McCornick and other experts have been warning there may not be a lot of straw left this year, for both food and bedding.

He said: “Straw supplies look like they may become an issue later on in the year and we are encouraging those who will need straw to negotiate a reasonable price sooner rather than later. “

“I am always wary when discussing the downside of warm weather in Scotland, as it is such a rarity. That being said, many parts will be hoping for a spot of rain. A little bit of moisture would be a great help to grass growth and for those who are relying on a second cut of silage, as well as our arable members who will be looking for some wet weather to swell grain as we quickly approach harvest time.”

There may not be much straw but there is plenty of strawberries, which boom in the sushine.

Mr McCornick said: “Early reports on the soft fruit harvest suggests exceptional quality, the hot weather fuelling excellent demand and packhouses at full throttle.”

Farmers last month reported a glut of the fruit. Aldi, the discount supermarket, took 80 tonnes of extra deliveries and started selling them in bigger punnets.

The crash in the pound means Scottish farmers are struggling to attract pickers from eastern Europe to bring in their harvest. Producers have raised wages and offered signing-on bonuses as workers fail to materialise.

Some farmers in Scotland may benefit from smaller crops of other produce, including English lettuce wilting in high temperatures, meaning lower labour requirements. There are concerns over other products too, including courgettes. Some growers expect supermarket shortages of greens within the next two weeks.

Growers of potatoes and salad crops need water right now as the plants, delayed by the Beast from the East, move in the period when they should bulk up.

Ayrshire new potatoes arrived in the shops a fortnight later than usual as spring arrived late and the March deep cold frosted off young plants. Yields in Ayrshire were down about 10 per cent, according to figures from earlier this month. Crops further south, which appear earlier, were affected even more seriously. Prices are not expected to compensate farmers for smaller crops.

Ice-cream sales, meanwhile, continue to boom, with or without strawberries. Britain may spend as much as a £1 billion this year.

Sales across the British Isles are understood to have doubled Waitrose said customers had bought a record number of children’s lollies, up 175 per cent. Adult lollies, it said, grew even faster, by 188 per cent.

The Aberdeenshire ice cream maker Mackie’s said its sales were up more than a quarter from May last year. It sold the equivalent of 1.1m scoops in the month, enough for every man, woman and child in Glasgow to have one each. The business also said sales of ice were roaring.