<b>Exclusive
By Rob Banks
Crime Editor

Country lanes have become a bloody battle ground with rival farm workers fighting each other in their rush to get the harvest in on time.</b>

Police have been called to a worrying number of so-called "tractor rage" incidents, where farmers have been hurling vegetables as well as abuse with each other.

Problems escalate when tractors from rival farms meet head-on in a narrow lane - and both refuse to back down.

In one case this week in Ashbocking, near Ipswich, a farmer dispatched his slurry trailer and hosed down his neighbour's workers because they refused to budge from the road.

<center><div class="getty embed image" style="background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;"><div style="overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.498316% 0 0 0;width:100%;"><iframe src="//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/88415336?et=lk2YXuAnThpjam47fsfVSw&viewMoreLink=on&sig=iTkYAK8pcwmKio9bdXIzSdRYY9stkLK0UMGE3UPDvI4=" width="594" height="395" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></div><p style="margin:0;"></p><div style="padding:0;margin:0 0 0 10px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/88415336" target="_blank" style="color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;">View image</a> | <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com" target="_blank" style="color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;">gettyimages.com</a></div></div></center><center><i>Police were called to the slurry-spraying drama</center></i><br><br>

The problem escalates in August as farmers rush to harvest cereal crops like wheat and barley - just as other vegetables including onions, potatoes and even leeks also need collecting.

With only a small window of time to get it all done between rainy days, tempers fray quickly.

At Peasenhall, near Framlingham,  two tractors from rival farms met head-on and the situation escalated dramatically.

One farmer had a trailer of potatoes, the other was full of onions. These became perfect "missiles" as the red-faced pair launched vegetables at each other while swearing loudly about missing a ploughman's lunch at the pub.

Police sped to that incident and cautioned both tractor drivers for public order offences.

<b>Large leek</b>

Elsewhere, in Ixworth another incident led to a farm worker being hospitalised after he was slapped around the head with a large leek.

One man was arrested and will appear before Bury St Edmunds magistrates on Monday, charged with assault and the possession of a dangerous vegetable.

A police spokesman told the Suffolk Gazette: "We appreciate getting the harvest in is always stressful for farmers at this time of year. However, we would urge them to keep a lid on their tempers and be respectful to each other on country lanes.

"Throwing vegetables at each other is not the way to behave for grown-up men, and we will make more arrests if it continues."

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