The bad weather may be upsetting many crop farmers but a bumper harvest of plums has left one family thanking the gods for the rain.

The trees at Essington Fruit Farm are laden with a wide range of varieties ready to tempt the summer tastebuds and customers are snapping up the opportunity to pick their own. 

The Simkin family farm in Bognop Road, Essington, has been producing fruit since the 1970s and while other crops have failed this summer the plums are proving to be the pick of bunch this year. 

Richard Simkin said: “At last we have a crop that has enjoyed the rain.“

Read the full story in the Express & Star. 

The bad weather may be upsetting many crop farmers but a bumper harvest of plums has left one family thanking the gods for the rain.

The trees at Essington Fruit Farm are laden with a wide range of varieties ready to tempt the summer tastebuds and customers are snapping up the opportunity to pick their own. 

The Simkin family farm in Bognop Road, Essington, has been producing fruit since the 1970s and while other crops have failed this summer the plums are proving to be the pick of bunch this year. 

Richard Simkin said: “At last we have a crop that has enjoyed the rain.

“While vegetables may be scarce and the corn crops are rotting in the fields, conditions could not have been better for plums trees. The wonderful April was ideal for pollination and there has been no late frosts to damage the blossoms. It’s probably the best crop we have ever had.”

While the plums thrive, other crops in the country face ruin – creating the prospect of big shortages and higher prices in the shops.

British-grown potatoes are among the crops in short supply because of the floods.

William Chase, founder of Tyrrells crisps, said up to 60 per cent of his crop could be lost because of the weather. 

The entire supply chain could be affected because of the downpours and floods, he warned. Describing the situation on his 700 acres of potato crops in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, he said: “We have probably lost about 40 per cent at the moment, and the way it is going we will probably lose about 60 per cent.” 

Mr Chase said around half his farms’ potatoes were usually sold on to other processors. The British Potato Council said farmers’ costs had increased “significantly” due to the weather and spiralling energy prices. 

It said the level of shortages wouldn’t become clear until the September-October harvest. 

Meanwhile, Walkers Crisps has delayed its latest TV advertising campaign which made light of the rainy British weather amidst concerns it could offend flood victims.