He described it as “dismal” and said “things can‘t get worse”.

From the seat of his combine, Mr Watson-Smyth said that he was getting 5t/ha (2 t/acre) and that “this is a lot worse than previous years”.

He said that the only cause of this low yield was the weather.

“The farm had never looked better until mid-May,” said Mr Watson-Smyth, but then the weather turned very warm and dry.

“My farm only received half an inch of rain in May and June, causing substantial damage to the crop.”

Mr Watson-Smyth said that this has proved a particular problem on his farm because the soil is very thin sand backing onto the sea.

He is currently harvesting the drier parts of his farm, nearer the sea where moisture levels in his barley were at 14.7%.

He hopes that other parts of the farm further from the coast may have better quality barley

Mr Watson-Smyth grows 500 acres (200 t/ha) of Antonia, two-row barley and a further 700 acres (280 t/ha) of wheat.