Record yields in Hampshire

Andy Hull has almost finished harvest at Dean Farm, Fareham, Hampshire, and is delighted with some record high yields.

“Harvest was going brilliantly until it rained – we thought we were going to finish on 3-4 August; instead we finished the last of the winter wheat on Friday (22 August),” he said.

“We’ve now just got some spring wheat to go, which will be ready this week.”

See also: Farm fire toll rises in South Yorkshire.

Yields had been terrific and quality was good, although milling wheat protein contents had been diluted as a result of the large yields, he added.

“We had over 10t/ha from Panorama, which is massive for us.”

Despite the catchy weather, harvest had been relatively pain-free. “I don’t like cutting at crazy wet moisture contents, and I was trying not to use the drier this year,” said Mr Hull.

“Earlier on, the straw wasn’t quite ripe so the combine had to work quite hard, and we really could have done without Hurricane Bertha coming in and not going away again, but other than that it’s been a textbook harvest.”

 

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