But although farmers will be affected, they say food prices are unlikely to get any higher.

Heavy rains and soft soil in August and September kept combine harvesters out of fields, with crops flattened and sprouting before they could be gathered in.

A recent spell of fine weather led to many farmers harvesting into the night, with the lights of tractors and combine harvesters a common sight along the county's roads.

NFU regional chairman Jim Meadows has 700 hectares around Warwickshire including fields near Bishops Tachbrook. He believes this year has been the worst in around 40 years.

Mr Meadows said: "It has been one of the most difficult years I have known. We're already a month behind and the ground conditions are still bad."

The government also relaxed its rules on using machinery on waterlogged ground to ensure crops could be brought in.

But delays mean sowing for next year is already late - in some cases too late, affecting farmers' finances for the next two years.

John Moore farms 2,700 acres at Walworth Farm in Bishops Itchington. He said the poor quality of this year's crop for animal feed meant prices had dropped "through the floor", while an acute shortage of wheat suitable for bread had inflated its prices artificially.

But although farmers will suffer, he predicted there would be no increase in food prices, as the cost of milling wheat had actually fallen from £200 per tonne last year.

NFU spokesman Oliver Cartwright confirmed this, explaining wheat prices accounted for only ten per cent of the value of bread, with harvests in other countries also affecting the market.

He said: "If retailers do push prices up, the NFU would like to see larger returns for famers at the farmgate to ensure the industry remains sustainable and profitable in the future and if supermarkets are absorbing costs we hope it is not at the expense of farmers and growers."