Mid-Canterbury cropping farmers are reeling after a severe hail storm tore through the Mayfield area earlier this week.
Federated Farmers Mid-Canterbury Grain and Seed chairperson David Clark said the hail shredded radish and carrot crops, and wheat and barley crops had had the stuffing knocked out of them.
The damage cost growers hundreds of thousands of dollars and topped off a disastrous year climatically, with heavy winter snow, followed by destructive wind storms and then a long dry spell.
"The financial implications are severe. For cropping farmers, you get one harvest a year, and for these guys part of their harvest is lying on the ground wasted," Mr Clark said.
"The money has been spent. This is a financial loss, and it's also heartbreaking."
Farmers enjoyed seeing their crops harvested following each year of hard work and it was tough when, instead, it was ruined in the space of five or 10 minutes, he said.
Farmers who had hail damage to crops should talk to their insurers and let their bankers know what had happened, Mr Clark said.
