James Stafford has finally finished harvest at Pickwick Lodge Farm, Corsham, Wiltshire, with mixed results. 

Both the Cassia winter barley and Mascani winter oats had yielded well, at an average of 6.7t/ha each.

“Although we were down on last year’s yields, we’re happy considering the season we’ve had,” said Mr Stafford. “The bushel weights for the oats were 51kg/hl and we’re pleased with that.”
 
The Tipple spring barley also yielded well, reaching 6.4t/ha and passing for malting quality, he added.

“We also harvested around 65ha of Camelot and Cabernet oilseed rape, which averaged at 3.5t/ha.

“The yield wasn’t bad, although the oil content was disappointing at only 40-41%.”

In contrast to the success of the barley and oats, the wheat was an absolute disaster, said Mr Stafford.

Having harvested about 70ha, it only managed to yield a disappointing 4.9t/ha. 

However, on a more positive note, harvest was now finished for the year and Mr Stafford was halfway through drilling his oilseed rape.

“It’s much later than we would like – we’re about 12-14 days behind where we would like to be,” he said.

“It was wet when we started and is drying out well now. It’s almost got to the point where it’s too dry.”