Rainy spell leaves farmer with 'massive workload'

A farmer says he has been left with a "massive workload" following higher than average rainfall this year.

Dan Willis, who farms more than 1,500 acres of land near Newbury in Berkshire, said some of his fields are still unworkable.

The University of Reading recorded a 37-day run of days with rain this year, the longest continuous spell in the town for 10 years and the second-longest on record.

Although reservoir levels have been boosted, Thames Water said it continues to encourage its customers to use water "wisely as a precious resource".

Willis, who runs Rookery Farm with his mum Hazel, is celebrating the end of the rain.

The fourth and fifth generation of the family to farm in the area, he mainly produces wheat, barley and rapeseed.

He said some of his fields are still "very wet" and will "take some time to drain down".

"The ground conditions are so wet we just can't get the machinery on the land, so you've really got to chose your times, choose your fields.

"Thankfully we've got some free draining ones but we've got a lot of heavy land as well, which is nearly impossible to walk across, even now," he told the BBC.

]"What we need is some warm sunshine with a few nice showers in between just to keep the crop growing... but hopefully, fingers crossed, it's not going to hurt the yields."

The university's atmospheric observatory recorded 17 February as the first day without measurable rainfall since 11 January.

Dr Jess Neumann, associate professor of hydrology, said the record-breaking spell meant reservoirs were "nearly" back to where they should be.

She added: "It's not just, it was very dry last year, we also used a lot more water, so we've kind of got a double whammy to get over in terms of restocking those reservoirs."

Thames Water said it was always monitoring the weather to ensure it manages its resources "responsibly".

A spokesperson said: "We can't predict what will happen across the next few months, but reservoir and groundwater levels are currently healthy following a very wet start to the year."

The Environment Agency said the higher than average rainfall had resulted in a "sharper rise" in groundwater levels in Berkshire this year.

A spokesperson added: "There is the possibility of a drier spell until mid-March, with wetter conditions likely to follow.

"This means that there is a lot of uncertainty around when groundwater levels may start to fall."