Farmers in England and Wales are experiencing confidence levels at an "all time low", according to their National Farmers' Union (NFU).
As drought conditions hit Victorian and Tasmanian farmers over recent months, the opposite, extremely wet weather, hit their British counterparts.
In survey results released by the NFU of almost 800 farmers, 82 per cent said the wet weather had negatively affected their business.
The survey was conducted between November 21, 2023, and January 5, 2024, meaning the results were likely to be even worse if the rainfall for the first four months of this year had been taken into account.
According to the NFU data, farmers in all industries - cropping, beef, sheep, poultry, horticulture and dairy - expected to decrease production over the next year.
The survey asked farmers about the challenges they were facing and their expectations for the year ahead.
The poll showed that both farmers' short-term (next year) and mid-term (next three years) confidence was at the lowest level since the annual research began in 2010.
Farmers in the beef, sheep, dairy and cropping sectors were found to have had the worst outlook on the years ahead.
Arable and livestock farmers were found to be particularly pessimistic towards both.
Extreme wet weather during the British autumn (September, October, November) was a major factor contributing to farmers' outlook.
England and Wales have had their wettest 18 months since the mid 1800s.
Farmers who typically lambed out in late spring (April) faced days of heavy rain, wind and non-typical cold conditions.
While Victorian and Tasmanian farmers waited for rain and their recent autumn break, British farmers waited for the rain to stop in their spring break.
The wet conditions also compounded other challenges for English and Welsh farmers including increased input costs, poor labour supply, cheaper imports and inflation.
As Britain has left the European Union (EU), the phase out of the EU Basic Payment Scheme was the biggest factor farmers saw as negatively affecting their businesses in 2024.
High input costs followed in second place, with hikes in fuel and fertiliser prices severely affecting farmer morale.
Concerns over the prices received for farm produce increased by 10pc when compared to 2023's survey results.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said farmer confidence after months of "devastating flooding, unsustainable high production costs and low market returns".
He said this came alongside "reduced farm support as we transition to a new domestic agriculture policy and associated farm support".
"Any business owner knows that without confidence and a steady cash flow, that business will struggle to re-invest and remain viable," he said.
Experts have recently warned that lower yields from key crops could lead to higher food prices if the losses cannot be offset by imports from a stronger global commodities market.
But Mr Bradshaw argued that relying on imports is "naive at best and foolish at worst" as climate change grows as a risk to food systems globally.
"Britain cannot afford to lose its ability to feed itself," he said.
"Farmers are carrying the risk within the supply chain and with the huge volatility we've seen in the input markets and in output prices in recent years.
"That risk is just getting too high for many businesses to take and we now need some solid foundations put in place that are going to underpin our food production for the future."
