Farmers say wheat is being left to rot as rain prevents harvesting

Torrential downpours have made harvesting more difficult and increased the risk of disease.

Only 21% of the wheat harvest has been gathered so far, making it the latest harvest for 10 years.

Meanwhile, the annual harvest of peas is expected to be 20% short of the target, with some farmers in eastern England abandoning their crops.

One farmer on the banks of the River Humber has lost over 100 hectares of peas because of the weather, Radio 4's Farming Today reported.

We're just not getting any dry periods in between the seemingly constant rain Paul Temple National Farmers Union

Paul Temple from the National Farmers Union said: "There's very little you can do about the weather, you just have to work with it.

"But it's been particularly difficult this year because we've had a very wet July and very wet August.

"For a lot of the crops, it's just impossible to harvest them," he told BBC News24.

"We're just not getting any dry periods in between the seemingly constant rain."

Small areas were able to be harvested during brief dry spells, but the resulting harvest was damp, resulting in an expensive drying process using expensive fuel, Mr Temple said.

In north-east England, between 40-50% of the oil rapeseed would be lost this year, and the wheat crop was "hanging in the balance," he added.

Bread price

Damage had already been done to the quality of the grain, so harvest originally destined for milling into flour would now be used for feed instead.

However, Mr Temple did not expect an effect on bread prices as imports would make up for any domestic shortfall.

In Scotland, farmers have suffered the worst harvest in almost 20 years after torrential rain ruined some fields.

The National Farmers' Union of Scotland (NFUS) has warned that time is running out to save the rest.

Much of the oil seed rape crop has already failed and farmers are now hoping to save their wheat and barley.

Many fields have been flattened by the summer deluges and in others the grain is ready but the machines cannot get to them.