FARMERS across the region are facing a disaster worse than BSE and the foot-and-mouth crisis put together.

That is the view of local dairy and meat producers, who have revealed the full extent of the damage caused to crops and the financial hardship the rains brought.

Colwall farmer John Bishop's entire barley crop was wiped out by floodwaters.

His hay harvest was almost destroyed and he now fears he won't be able to feed his 2,000 sheep this winter.

"This time last year, I had the equivalent of 8,000 bales of hay ready in the barn, now I have one. This is a major problem, I need to feed my sheep.

"The cost of animal feed will go through the roof, but I might not even be able to buy any feed, because who will have any?

"From my point of view, this is worse than BSE and foot-and-mouth put together, it could be a disaster."

Peter Surman, of Ryalls Court Farm, near Upton, admitted the July floods had been "devastating". He lost 300 acres of grassland used to feed his 200 dairy cattle and 600 beef cattle.

"Because crops are uninsurable, all the loss will have to come out of our own pockets," he added.

"I am now having to feed my cows with food brought in and, because we are an organic farm, that feed has to be produced in a certain way and is expensive."

Mr Surman refused to put an exact figure on the damage, but said it would run into the tens of thousands of pounds.

Charles Pudge, who farms at Bishop's Frome, lost his entire yield of wheat and suffered severe damage to his hops harvest in the floods.

"My wheat ears are no good, they're just full of silt, and my hops are going yellow. I've probably lost 15 acres of hops.

"I know quite a few farmers who have suffered substantial losses, potato crops are particularly badly hit, along with oilseed rape."

Mr Pudge said flooding problems were made worse by clogged up rivers.

"The Environment Agency needs to clean out the rivers, and get the tree debris out of them," said Mr Pudge.

Oliver Cartwright, regional spokesman for the National Farmers' Union, said: "The NFU is seeing what it can do for members, as there are no automatic subsidies or compensation and farms are treated like any other business. We're also taking up our members' concerns with the Environment Agency and other bodies over the extent of the flooding."