Wet weather ruins crops with farmers in Oxfordshire warning of shortages and rising prices
ITV News Meridian's Mike Pearse reports from Dunsden Green Farm on the Oxfordshire/Berkshire border.
Farmers in the Thames Valley say torrential rain has delayed harvesting and ruined some crops, which could keep supermarket prices high.
Oxfordshire farmer, Simon Beddows, says he's usually finished harvesting by this time of the year but due to the recent wet weather, only 25 per cent has been done.
He said: "That means, as a business, our profit margin is shrinking and shrinking away.
"The subsidies that we used to received from the EU were to help smooth out these ups and downs but they're disappearing now and we're not getting those any more.
"In terms of the marketability of our grain, if it gets wet for a period of time then the quality disappears and it loses its ability to be used for bread."
The recent hot weather in Europe also means the grain we import is in short supply, adding to costs.
The industry says climate change is having a major impact.
Professor Nicola Cannon from the Royal Agricultural University said: "If you harvest your crops when they are wet you have to dry them and that costs money, and so it's adding to the cost and it's adding to the labour demand.
"But the big thing for farmers is, it adds to the stress of harvest because they don't get up in the morning and know they're going harvesting because they've got to wait for it to dry out and then they can go and harvest but often it comes and rains again which stops harvest again."
Farmers say the cost of fertiliser has risen dramatically, also adding to potential price rises in the shops.
Despite better weather over the past couple of days, it's too late for some crops and it's likely consumers will pay higher prices in the shops.
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