Glen Sanderson, north east delegate for the NFU, says this year‘s harvest on the north east coast is “horrendous”.

“We have done a whole year‘s work with nothing to show for it. Farmers are not only frustrated, they’re worried.”

“In some cases the crop is a complete write-off – it‘s a nightmare.”

“We‘ve only managed to combine twice in the past fortnight because the weather has been so poor.”

Yesterday, (Sun 15 Aug) Mr Sanderson started mid-morning when moisture content was too high and carried on until the dew started to settle at about 11 o‘clock.

He‘s harvested 25ha (60 acres) of oilseed rape. “But the drying bills are absolutely appalling.”

The rain and long wait for harvest have caused secondary growth in the oilseed rape leading to “murderous treatment to the combine –  it‘s just filling up with rubbish so we‘re having to clean it out every 4ha (10 acres).”

Mr Sanderson said there is a shortage of straw in the area as swathed and baled barley is still lying in the field, because it‘s simply too wet to do anything.

“Farmers in our area are seriously worried financially – things aren‘t good.”

He labelled this year‘s harvest “a complete catastrophe.”