The rainfall has caused entire fields to rot

There are fears poor harvests caused by heavy rainfall could cause greater damage to the industry than 2001's devastating foot-and-mouth outbreak.

The NFU says ministers should help deliver EU subsidies earlier than usual - a call being backed by the Tories.

However, the union has stopped short of asking for direct compensation.

Peter Kendell, the NFU's deputy president, said it would be requesting help for farmers seeking cash flow, but would not be asking for a bail-out.

Some farmers are expected to lose their entire crop and EU subsidies are not due to be paid until at least November.

"Rather than waiting until the Christmas period, they could receive their support payments in the next few weeks and that would be a big help," he said.

The government's chief rural adviser, Lord Haskins, said on Friday that farmers stood to lose about �100 for each acre of land.

The north of England has been hardest hit, but farmers across Britain are suffering, he said.

He told BBC Radio 4's Farming Today that cereal farmers were suffering the same sort of losses as the livestock industry had three years ago during the foot-and-mouth outbreak.

No cash

"For arable farmers in a sense it is much worse because there is obviously no compensation from the government," he said.

Shadow Agriculture Secretary Tim Yeo has written to Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett, calling on her to press the EU to hand out advance payments to ease their plight.

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Only about half the wheat in the country has been harvested and entire fields of crops have been left to rot because of the summer's heavy rainfall.

Some farmers have been able to do some harvesting during brief pockets of fine weather, but the recent persistent rain has made even that small amount impossible.

Last year's dry weather provided a bumper harvest, but the havoc caused by this year's torrential storms could also stretch on into 2005 as seeds and soil become damaged as well, Farming Today reported.

Washout

This season's crops are not a write-off yet, but their quality is deteriorating with every rainy day.

The NFU says thousands of farmers in north-east England are being forced to stand by and watch crops being ruined in the waterlogged ground.

A Defra spokesman said: "There is no doubt this is one of the wettest and slowest harvests on record.