Harvest is progressing in Scotland with some areas recording their earliest season while others are still being held back by ground conditions following Hurricane Bertha.

In Laurecekirk, Andrew Moir had finished combining winter wheat at Thornton Mains. “Oilseed rape is in the ground and spring barley is getting swept up – all with reasonable yields and quality,” he said.

But north of Aberdeen and in Morayshire, the ground conditions were still holding progress back. “Some of these areas received 220ml of rain between January and July and then more than 200ml in the first few weeks of August,” said Mr Moir.

“As a result there have been reports of combines getting stuck and the amount of water in some fields will lead to worries about germination.”

In the Highlands, spring barley was almost 50% complete, while intake at Buckie maltings was just getting started, he added.

See also: Spring cropping and fallow could cut blackgrass.

In Kilmarnock, Andrew Glover had finished cutting wheat at Hall of Barnweill, and was pleased with yields of 8.2-8.6t/ha at 13.8-15.5% moisture.

“That’s absolutely amazing for this area and very similar to the moistures in the winter barley,” he said.

“Most wheat is now done in this area but spring barley will be later than normal due to the wet spring, and yields will be down.”

James Adam had also finished cutting wheat at Highholm, Dunfermline, and although yields were good, Beluga had suffered from disease pressure.

“Spring barley is just coming ready now in West Fife. It looks like it will be difficult to cut with lots of meadow grass in the stubble – the cold wet spring we had here did not let barley get off to a good start.”

In East Lothian, Willie Thomson was pleased with harvest progress at Wheatrig, Longniddry, and oilseed rape sowing was now in full swing.

“Winter barley for feed has yielded 8.9t/ha, with winter rapeseed at 4.2t/ha and spring barley 7.9t/ha – although nitrogen contents vary from 1.4% to 1.8%,” he said.

“A lot of wheat is now being cut with reports of good yields from 8.6t/ha on second wheat to more than 10t/ha for first wheat. The downsides are of course the price and lack of clarity forthcoming from the Scottish Government about greening.”