Many crops are still not ripe in Devon, making harvest a tricky affair, according to Troy Stuart from Clyst St Mary, Exeter.

“We’ve got winter oilseed rape that is still not fit – and it was planted on 12 September,” he said.

“We haven’t sprayed it off, which I was very pleased about when we had the heavy thunderstorms at the end of July.”

Mr Stuart had 28ha (70 acres) of rapeseed to finish off, and had been alternating between crops to cut what was fit. “We’ve done an awful lot of messing about and crop changes.”

The first crop to ripen was peas, which disappointed at just 3.7t/ha (1.5t/acre). After that came Dalguise winter oats, which did well at 7.4t/ha (3t/acre).

Spring barley had been variable, averaging just 5-5.6t/ha (2-2.25t/acre), although quality had been good, he said.

“The rape seems to be yielding well.” So far the Castille and Cabernet oilseed rape had averaged at least 4.2t/ha (1.7t/acre).

Winter linseed was underway today, and didn’t look exciting, he added.

“We cut the first of the wheat yesterday, but it was barely fit, at 17-18% moisture. We were a bit worried because it hasn’t had much sun, but it looks alright – the yields seem fine.”

Harvest was between a third and halfway through in the area – about five or seven days behind a normal year.

Crop: Oilseed rape
Varieties: Castille and Cabernet
Yield: 4.2t/ha (1.7t/acre)

Crop: Winter oats
Variety: Dalguise
Area: 40ha (100 acres)
Yield: 7.4t/ha (3t/acre)