Wheat harvest will be finished on the Sentry Farming Group’s Godstone Hill Farm, near Guildford later today [25July], Nathan Kilby reported. And despite the early finish, and light land with a tendency to burn up quickly, yields have been extremely good.

“This is exceptionally early to finish,” Mr Kilby said.

Wheat combining started with 32ha (80 acres) of Claire on 19 July. “The straw was sappy, but the grain was ripe and dry so we thought we would take it. It probably could have stood for another week without much harm though.”

Combining was slower than usual because of the green straw, but not markedly so, he said. “Yields were excellent – we’ve averaged 3.6t/acre (9t/ha). Usually we struggle to average much over 3.1t/acre (7.75t/ha).”

The difference this year was rainfall at the right times, he suggested. “This year we had a fairly wet May – 104mm compared with 34mm last year – and had a useful 12-13mm two or three times in June, which kept it going. It is important on these silts to get the moisture.”

The farm’s 48ha (120 acres) of Robigus was also yielding well, he said. “It will average at least 3.7t/acre (9.25t/ha), and the quality looks good.”

All the wheat had come in at 12-13% moisture content meaning no drying charges. “It has been a cheap harvest, as well as a good one.”

The only slight disappointment was the Astrid oilseed rape, which yielded only 2.75t/ha (1.1t/acre), he added.

Crop: Winter Wheat
Variety: Claire
Yield: 9t/ha
Area: 32ha
Quality: 12-13% m/c

Crop: Winter Wheat
Variety: Robigus
Yield: 9.25t/ha
Area: 48ha
Quality: 12-13% m/c

Crop: Oilseed rape
Variety: ES Astrid
Yield: 2.75t/ha
Area: 80ha
Quality: 6-7% m/c