NATIONAL Farmers' Union president and Easingwold farmer Ben Gill has estimated the cost to the farming industry of the floods and recent bad weather at a crippling £500m.
The half a billion figure, representing uninsurable losses, will be taken out of the farming industry's national annual earnings of £1.7 billion, which have dropped 70pc over the past four years.
Mr Gill, whose own farm has suffered from the effects of waterlogged fields and severe frosts, said: "This is terminal for many people and it could well be the difference between survival and failure."
Nationally, he is forecasting a loss of £4m-£5m on cereal crops and around one-fifth of the UK potato crop written off.
Updated: 09:38 Thursday, January 11, 2001
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