Robert Anscombe was woken up at 2 o’clock this morning by lightening and rain drops “the size of acorns” in Worcs.

“I’m fed up; the weather is just not giving us a chance,” he said.

“I’m praying for a break from the rain, otherwise we’re going to lose money.”

Mr Anscombe is not even half way through his oilseed rape harvest, and his wheat needs to be harvested soon.

He‘s combined 22ha (55 acres) of rape and still has another 26ha (65 acres) still to do.

“All I need is a good hot day and I’ll be able to finish it off. But I suppose we can’t moan, we haven’t lost anything.”

The rape has been averaging a pleasing 3.46 t/ha (1.4 t/acre), with samples looking a bit variable. “I’m quite pleased.”

8ha (20 acres) of Caracas grown as a trial alongside Canberra has impressed, withstanding high winds with no lodging, while some of the Canberra had gone over.

“The Caracas has had a tough time but it’s still managed to yield 3.46 t/ha (1.4 t/acre) so I think it’s done pretty well.”

Mr Anscombe has 150ha (370 acres) of wheat ready to cut and is worried that if he’s forced to wait any longer he’s going to start losing quality.

“If the rain carries on, the bread making quality is down the toilet.”

“It really needs to be harvested now – if this poor weather continues hagberg levels are going to drop.”