It never rains but it pours. If our beleaguered farmers did not have enough man-made problems to cope with, they are now having to do battle with their oldest adversary, Mother Nature.

Countless acres of farmland are today underwater in the floods that have brought chaos to large areas of North and East Yorkshire.

The Environment Agency, the emergency services and residents are today working flat out to limit the damage. Only when the waters subside will we have a full picture of the devastation.

For farmers, who were already fighting, metaphorically, to keep their businesses above water, the floods could not have come at a worse time. Livestock prices are still at rock bottom. The strong pound is hitting their export market. And soon, cattle farmers will face competition from US beef bred with the use of growth hormones.

The importation of American meat must be resisted as strongly as possible. No one knows more about the dangers of meddling with the natural production of livestock than the British consumer.

Whatever the outcome of these trade negotiations, it will come too late for two Ryedale businesses. Malton-based Ryedale Farm Systems has gone into voluntary liquidation, while Permastore Tanks & Silos at Weaverthorpe is to close in June.

These closures demonstrate all too clearly the wide-reaching effect of the on-going agricultural recession. It is not just the farms that are affected. Every aspect of the industry has been hit hard.

Easingwold farmer and National Farmers Union president Ben Gill has fought to secure extra help from the Government. Doubts remain as to whether the compensation package addresses the scale of the problem. The Government is unlikely to come up with any more cash, however.

There is one thing ministers can do which will cost nothing and demonstrate their commitment to the countryside. Lift the beef-on-the-bone ban.

This ludicrous prohibition is being widely flouted. And even the Prince of Wales has given his unofficial endorsement of beef-on-the-bone. Ending the ban would be a welcome ray of sunshine in these stormy days for our farmers.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.