Rain is playing havoc with the harvests at the moment as farmers are struggling to bring in crops in the wet conditions.

Wheat and other cereals had been enjoying a magnificent growing season, with plenty of rain and some warm sunshine. But now the downpours of rain are turning the fields to mud and ruining what could have been a handsome harvest, and many combine harvesters have ground to a halt waiting for drier conditions. And those cereals that have been brought in have very wet grain, which needs to be dried in expensive kilns to make them useable. That affects the quality of grain, so instead of wheat going for a good price to make bread it is being sold cheaply as animal feed. But if the grain gets too wet it sprouts in the field and not even cattle will touch it.

The soggy conditions are making it difficult to harvest most other crops such as lettuce, which does not last well if it is dripping wet. And the market for salads is down in the dumps in any case this summer because grey skies and rain do not put people in the mood for buying salad vegetables.

But some crops are having a thoroughly good season. Spinach enjoys the rain and is producing a bumper crop, and the early potatoes were extremely good this year. However, the bulk of the potatoes are still in the ground and need more sunshine to put on weight. If September and October are warm and sunny we can expect a great harvest of the maincrop potatoes.

And the wet summer has had the bonus of cutting out irrigation costs and water restrictions that have dogged farmers over recent years.