Phil Dowson is just days away from this year’s wheat harvest at High House Farm, Richmond, North Yorkshire, and has made the most of an early start.

The 18ha of Excalibur oilseed rape 4.3t/ha.

“It’s not been too bad, although we’ve seen a small area of clubroot,” he said. “We’ll be reviewing this for next year and it’s likely we’ll be putting in less oilseed rape.”

See also: Growers reveal secret to profitable winter beans.

The 6ha of Volume winter barley reached a promising yield of 8.6t/ha, although quality was low with bushel weights around 60kg/hl.

“On the plus side, it’s taken very little drying, coming off between 14% and 16% moisture,” Mr Dowson added. 

He hoped to be moving onto the winter wheat harvest in the next 10 days.

“The forecast looks good after this weekend and we’re hoping to move into the wheat shortly,” he said.

“It’s looking okay at the moment, although it’s difficult to tell until we get it through the combine.”