It's a sad state of affairs by anybody's standards.

Sustained flooding in south-west England has submerged crops and destroyed cattle feed, with the consequences likely to be felt for months, or even years, in terms of lower production of both crops and meat.

The immediate worry is making sure cattle and lambs are fed. The National Farmers Union (NFU) in south-west England is appealing to farmers in other parts of the UK to pledge offers of fodder feed. The response is said to have been "magnificent". The NFU is appealing to consumers to support farming by buying British first. Presumably that means English, since Scotland has escaped the worst of the floods - although residents in Dumfries and Galloway are still suffering from December's inundations.

I wonder if there will be much to buy at all. When I asked NFU Scotland whether there might be potential for more Scottish produce to wing its way south, the response was that it's way too early to begin to quantify the level of damage or disruption to production. It did say winter crops under water at the moment are likely to be ruined, though if waters recede these may be replanted later this spring. Until the floods have fallen back it's also difficult to estimate damage to spring grassland, upon which livestock feed.

I wonder if we'll see a drop in availability of English-grown foods such as early potatoes and spring lamb that we'd normally see in Scottish supermarkets in coming weeks. Dairy cows also start to graze new grass in south-west England around now. The Scottish lambing season is later, around March.

It would be good to think that, in the ongoing spirit of mutuality, supermarket buyers would make a point of sourcing more produce from Scotland for sale in branches south of the Border rather than import seasonal produce and meat from abroad, but somehow I doubt it.

What's pretty sure is that, wherever they source from, shop prices will go up.

Long-term submersion of soil under water causes significant damage and some farming land in England has been like this for more than a month. According to Liz Bowles, head of farming at the Soil Association, the situation is unprecedented.

Somewhat presciently, the charity has already designated 2015 the International Year of the Soil - a worthy idea that, when announced only weeks ago, prompted snorts of derision from cynics, but which now we might be more ready to learn about. After all, everything we aspire to having in our diet has a link with the soil and it behoves us to know how best to look after it.

Soil with lots of organic matter has a better chance of repelling water than bare soil. Plant roots help hold it together and retain nutrients. Old-fashioned but important winter maintenance tasks such as hedging, ditching, draining and dredging have gone the way of most cash-draining outlays. But if the floods have any silver lining to offer, it will be that the lessons of good agricultural soil management must surely now be learned. Proper drainage systems are key - if expensive.

Land can literally die if the precious top soil is swept away, as it has been in some cases in England. It has a better chance of recovery if it's under water. The burning question for boffins is how long it takes for cold, saturated land that's been submerged for weeks to stop being productive. This isn't a simple calculation, for good agricultural soil incorporates plants, creatures, natural bacteria and nutrients; and it depends on what crop is being grown. Pesticides and herbicides, and our habit of plonking houses on it willy-nilly, can destroy its ability to carry out its essential functions. Compaction reduces its porosity, or ability to retain water; it also reduces the amount of oxygen available to organisms, increases the risk of nitrogen dioxide and methane production, and reduces root growth and plant development.

All of which has implications for future food security, or our ability to feed ourselves with minimal dependency on imports. Floods undermine yields and harvests, so it's a no-brainer that economies that are more diversified and less vulnerable to them are more likely to be secure. That's one of the reasons I'd argue that growing greater quantities of Scots produce and meat is more vital now than it's ever been.

Such sweet irony, then, that among the upcoming food trends for 2014 is soil. Not the delicious faux stuff chefs such as Redzepi and Blumenthal innovated years ago, but actual earth. The Tokyo restaurant Ne Quittez Pas's $110 soil-based menu, including potato and dirt soup, dirt risotto and dirt ice-cream is going down a bomb with those who believe it can help absorb toxins.

The chef uses only the best soil - which has to be imported.

Just saying.