Farmers struggle to stay afloat after UK floods

TWYNING, England, July 27 (Reuters) Gordon Halling battled on after foot-and-mouth disease wiped out his flock of sheep and bovine tuberculosis spread to his cattle but floods this week could prove the final straw for the west England farmer.

''I honestly don't know what I am going to do,'' Halling said, as floods left him without crops that he would normally turn into hay for his suckler cows.

Halling, who farms in Twyning near the River Severn in Gloucestershire, had already made both his sons redundant as he struggled to stay in business.

He is normally able to grow the crops he needs to feed his cows but this year he has only six bales of hay left and 140 acres of grass destined for hay under water.

Halling said he may be forced to sell his herd.

UK farming minister Jeff Rooker visited Halling's farm today during a tour to inspect the damage inflicted by Britain's worst flooding in 60 years.

About 350,000 people faced two weeks without running water and the insurance bill could soar to 3 billion pounds.

''It has been an eye-opener. We're not going to know the full effect until the end of September. There is a real problem here,'' Rooker said, noting some of the crops may be recoverable but others would be lost.

EXPENSIVE HAY Neighbour Derek Roberts, who has his flock of sheep huddled in one small corner of his farm with much of the land still under water, also said he may have to sell his animals as the cost of feeding them soars.

''Hay is my biggest problem at the moment. How I am going to survive I just don't know. I just can't afford to buy it,'' Roberts said.

''The ones who are selling have put the price up. Generally for a big bale of hay you pay 10 to 12 pounds under normal circumstances. Now I heard 25 to 30 pounds. We can't afford to pay that for hay,'' he added.

A field in Roberts farm was under 20 feet of water at one stage and the top of a 5-foot 6-inch gate has only just become visible as the waters begin to recede, he said.

Halling's farm has lost its supply of mains water and has been relying on water trucked in by the National Farmers Union.

''People have been very good. I even had a lady in the village ring up offering me her swimming pool water to help the animals. It touches a bit at times,'' Halling said.

In nearby Upton-upon-Severn, mobile homes in a park near the river are largely submerged and two rugby goalposts stand tall in the middle of a newly formed lake.

The community temporarily became an island as floods swept across the region this week.

Rooker also travelled on a tractor trailer over flooded fields to visit the dairy farm of Trevor Jaynes, a few miles away in Longdon.

Jaynes said there had been no milk collections for several days this week and he had poured 3,500 litres of milk down the drain.

He has had to purchase brewers' grain this week to feed his cows and expects to lose crops which remain under water.

''They are starting to rot already,'' he said.

Jaynes runs the farm with his sons Terry and Tim. The family have been using a kayak this week to tour the farm.

Chris Simpson, an inspector with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), said the floods had put many animals in danger.

''We are looking at something over 5,000 animals that we have helped to rescue. Yesterday we rescued a cat that had been trapped in a hayloft since Saturday and the only way we could get to it was by boat,'' he said.

Reuters JT RS2158