raspberry canes dying

Whilst I was picking off potato leaves with early blight my OH called me to see the raspberries 

The leaves are yellowing and dying and the stems are turning brown. Whole canes are dying. What worries me is that in the area that is affected there is no new growth of canes for next year.

Has anyone any idea what may be the cause?

What with the mildew on the courgettes and my dying parsley and coriander my allotment is beginning to look like a hospital for poorly plants.

Do you have the raspberry row well mulched? We had a drought early this year and my raspberries were looking dead. I mulched and watered them and they have picked up since.

they are shallow rooting so they need a little water often when it is not raining. Mulching helps to keep the roots cool and moist.

What sort of soil have you got ?
Yellowing is generally a sigh of a deficency of one sort or another (Magnesium ? )
Wondering if your soil type tends to be low in minerals and so they need an addition.

I'd be for starting again, getting the soil right and hoping for a better year next year. Oh and possibly planting somewhere else on a different patch of soil.