Andrew Middlewood had been stopped from cutting spring barley by the rain in Malton, Yorkshire. He had been cutting all weekend until last night.

He was half way through 24ha Cocktail which was on a malting contract. The crop had died off in the recent heat on his light land, so yields were not high.

“Yields are nothing fantastic. It is probably better than we thought but they are still not very good.”

Wheat harvest was due to be a week to 10 days ahead of last year. Mr Middlewood said the wheat was slightly weathered from rain two weekends ago, but was looking better than he had originally thought.

He added: “The wheat is ready now so we’ll just keep going after the spring barley is finished, as long as the weather is dry. We’re hoping spring barley will be done in the next day or two.”