“We’ve had an inch of rain and so have done nothing this week,” said David Hinchliffe from Thorne, Yorkshire. “We’re at a complete standstill.”

He had managed to finish cutting 50ha of Astrid oilseed rape last week, with yields lower than the five-year average at 4t/ha.

He said the crop had done quite well for most of the season. “Yields of oilseed rape in general seem to be low this year so we’re quite pleased with what we had.”

Most of the winter wheat is waiting to be cut, with only 20ha of 300ha done so far. First wheat Cordiale was yielding 10t/ha, with second wheat Cordiale yielding just below this. He said this was not too bad considering the very dry run-up to harvest.

“We’ve had very little rain this year, so overall we shall probably be down on our long-term average.”

• Crop: Oilseed rape
• Variety: Astrid
• Area: 50ha
• Yield: 4t/ha

• Crop: Winter wheat
• Variety: Cordiale
• Area: 20ha of 300ha
• Yield: First wheat 10t/ha, Second wheat just below 10t/ha