FOR most of us, the recent flooding will be little more than a short-term inconvenience, with disrupted or extended journeys to and from work.

But for other members of our community, the impact will be long-term and could put their very livelihoods at risk.

Prime Minister and Witney MP David Cameron got a first-hand account of the likely long-term costs from farmer Tim Hook when he visited Cote Lodge Farm on Friday.

Mr Hook and his father John are used to seeing brief flooding of some of their land but many of their fields have been under water since before Christmas, with wheat and grass crops ruined.

And this latest inundation comes after another wet autumn and extended winter in 2012-13, as our report on Moreton-in-Marsh Show’s awards presentation evening reminds us.

Despite the difficult conditions, farmers from West Oxfordshire and their colleagues across the Cotswolds still managed to produce quality crops, worthy of awards.

In an age when development of West Oxfordshire’s urban areas seems to dominate debate much of the time, it is easy to lose sight of the important role agriculture still plays in the district.

Farmers have shaped the landscape that makes West Oxfordshire a special place and are dedicated to their work.

The £10m of aid the Government has offered is a start in helping farms to recover from the floods but given the scale of the problems in Somerset, in particular, one has to wonder how far that money will go.

We trust that Mr Cameron’s pledge that there will be no penny-pinching when it comes to flood relief is not a hollow one.