THE disastrous impact of the floods on farming was outlined to the scrutiny panel in a letter from Upton's Peter Surman.

With the whole of the agricultural industry in deep recession it was in a poor state to withstand natural disasters of this magnitude, said Mr Surman.

Early, extensive and relentless flooding made winter planting impossible in large areas of the country and disrupted the traditional cropping cycle, with knock-on effects for livestock in the coming months.

On Mr Surman's own farm, Ryall's Court, 150 young stock and 90 suckler cows had to be housed four weeks early, affecting stocks of feed and straw. Grass for silage and grazing was likely to be killed off by lengthy flooding and straw for next winter would be in short supply.

If adequate stocks of feed and straw could not be obtained for next winter, he would be forced to sell half his livestock.

"We shall be selling on to a weak market as every other livestock farmer does the same," said Mr Surman.

He suggested three types of aid for farmers: direct payments for reseeding and replanting; financial incentives for arable farmers to make straw available to the livestock sector; plus government underwriting of bank loans for buying feed and averting the forced sale of livestock.

To reduce the impact of future flooding, he suggested dredging the river, increasing floodwater storage areas in the flood plain and reducing the rate of run-off from farmland and new or existing developments.

He also wanted a local digital display sign giving river level information and information about the level at which properties would flood.