VEGETABLE grower Ken Coles is keeping everything crossed for a better 2013 after one of the wettest years on record wiped out hundreds of acres of crops on his Wellington farm.

Seasoned producer Ken, 70, lost some 350 acres of peas, and hundreds more acres of swedes, broad beans and corn, at Chelston House Farm, which he runs with his wife, Christine, and son, Paul. His prime produce can be found on supermarket shelves across the UK and on market stalls from London to Liverpool, Manchester to Southampton, as well as Bristol, Brighton and Leicester.

As always at the start of the year, it’s all hands on deck right now, ploughing fields and sowing crops for this year’s harvest, but while there’s no way of knowing if the great British weather will rear its ugly head again the ever-increasing costs of modern, large-scale farming remain consistent. Ken said: “The public don’t realise how serious this weather has been for us farmers.

“We’ve had a very difficult time getting the crops in the ground and an even more difficult time getting them out.”

Besides toiling in the fields, the family also operate an efficient in-house packing factory on site to ensure that the produce is washed and packed before hitting the stores. Ken said: “Any type of farming is very hard work. Just look at the poor farmers down on the Somerset Levels – they haven’t even seen grass for three months.

“It’s not just us – all farmers, whether they be cattle, sheep or vegetable, need a good 12 months’ trading and it had better come quick.”