Last updated 19:51, Thursday, 18 September 2008

WEST Cumbrian farmers face huge losses after two months of rain ruined harvests, throwing the farming industry into another crisis.

It caps a miserable summer for the area’s farmers following cancellation of the Keswick, Loweswater and Borrowdale shows.

This has been the worst harvest on record and many crops cannot be sown because of the wet ground. If farmers cannot get crops off the fields they will not be able to re-plant for next season, meaning increased costs and crucial planning for next year’s harvest will be behind schedule.

Livestock farmers have also suffered, as they have had to bring their cattle in early and feed them on winter rations.

Some farmers fear that these rations will not last throughout the winter and they have had to buy expensive feed for their cattle, as farmers are unable to grow their second batches.

Jim Cosker, group secretary of Cockermouth NFU, said: “The weather has been a huge disappointment for many farmers, and arable farmers in the region have really suffered.

“They have had a bad yield and have not been able to get their tractors and combines on to the fields. Due to this they have not been able to sow their crops, which has had an effect on food prices which have gone up.

“Because of the amount of rain there have been problems getting rations in for cattle as well.

“The cancellation of many agricultural shows such as Keswick, Loweswater and Borrowdale has been a big blow to many farmers and the industry as a whole because it was a place where people met up and could show off their stock.

“The whole of West Cumbria seems to have been affected and I think it has been the wettest August on record, traditionally one of our busiest times of the year.

“We did not need another situation like this due to the threat of blue tongue and the foot and mouth outbreak last year.”

Adam Day, livestock director at Mitchells Auction Company in Cockermouth, said: “It is a great shame. Many of the farmers are having serious problems and one I have spoken to has said he may have to potentially sell his cattle because he will not be able to feed them.

“They are looking for any dry day they can get and it is disappointing because at the moment we are having good sales and this problem is affecting the value of livestock.

“Crop farmers haven’t had a chance to harvest as well because of the sodden ground.

Nick Utting, of Cumbria NFU, said: “The cumulative effect of a bad season and two months of rain when we’re trying to harvest and conserve winter grass has to run into millions of pounds, even for a county like Cumbria.”

Even after a dry spell, farmers could be kept off fields by an EU regulation banning heavy machinery on saturated ground.

However, the NFU are trying to get this rule temporarily lifted so farmers can get on to their fields if the weather turns.