2 May 2012 Last updated at 08:21 ET

Rain causes £100,000 crop damage at Selby farm

Farmer Tim Hey says the water measures 2ft (0.6m) deep in the worst affected fields

A North Yorkshire farmer whose fields have become waterlogged because of the recent heavy rainfall fears the damage to his crops will cost him £100,000.

Tim Hey, owner of a 2,300-acre farm in Gateforth, near Selby, said more than 25% of his fields was under water.

The 50-year-old said he had measured 6in (152mm) of rainfall in the last eight days.

"A year ago we were watering the field and now we're using the irrigation pump to remove the water," he said.

'Loss of livestock'

Mr Hey, who grows potatoes, carrots, parsnips and sugar beet across 15 fields, said in the worst affected areas the water measured about 2ft (0.6m) deep.

"This is the worst April we've ever had. It's like a big lake.

"The seeds of my potato crop are rotting because the waterlogged fields have made the ground so soft."

Mr Hey said it could take up to three years before he would be able to recover the costs from the damage.

Rachael Gillbanks, from the National Farmers' Union (NFU), said the recent heavy rainfall had affected a number of farms where the loss of livestock had been "higher than normal", but could not "provide a definitive assessment of the impact".

"It is difficult because different farm businesses in different parts of Yorkshire will have felt the effects to a greater or lesser extent with many saying that provided the deluge does not continue, this is something they can cope with."