<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 like 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.

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

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, and we will make more arrests if it continues."

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