Harvest Highlights: Oilseed rape harvest drawing to a close.

Oilseed rape yields remain unpredictable to the end according to the latest reports. The hope is that wheat will fare better, provided the recent run of good weather holds.

The rape harvest was at last drawing to a close for Ben Atkinson of Grange Farm, Rippingale, Lincolnshire. He was combining Castille this morning and hoped to have it completed soon.

He said, “I’m not expecting record yields or quality – it’s difficult to tell until it’s combined.” He expected wheat to yield reasonably, although crops were little lodged.

Oilseed rape yields produced no surprises for Michael Manners at Coniscliffe Grange, Staindrop Road, Darlington, County Durham. At least he had 250ha (620 acres) of winter wheat to look forward to.

He said, “Provided we have good weather from now on, everything will be OK.”

Mark McFerran of Battletown Farm, Newtonards, County Down was disappointed with winter barley, which yielded 6.4 t/ha (2.6 t/acre) at 17% moisture content.

Mr Mcferran said he was keeping arable work simple to manage it well,” Were done and dusted,” he added and was thankful that prices were making up for the poor yields.

Also hopeful for good prices was success story Xi19 winter wheat for Dan Squier at Doggetts Farm near Rochester, who was very pleased with yields around 10t/ha.

He said: “We’re well up to date and have been very lucky in this south-eastern corner of Essex.”

William Greenwood of Swanborough Farm, Lewes, East Sussex was hopeful for crop progress and said the forecast looked so-so

He expected to begin Optic spring barley at the end of next week and with just the one crop to manage on the farm, said,”It’s simple for us this year.”

* If you’ve got a harvest story then call our dedicated harvest reporter David Kemp on 020 8652 4073. You can also get involved on the new FWiSpace forums where you can chat directly with other farmers and share the high and lows of what is shaping up to be a challenging summer.

You can also share your harvest pictures by sending them to david.kemp@rbi.co.uk who will make sure they appear on our dedicated Harvest Highlights 2007 Picture Gallery (www.fwi.co.uk/Community/photos/harvesthighlights)

If you prefer, we can set you up with your own gallery where you can upload pictures at any time to share them with other farmers.

We are hoping to print a selection of the best harvest pictures submitted each week in Farmers Weekly magazine. Please be aware that for use in the magazine we will need pictures to be taken using the highest quality setting on your camera.