The end of harvest was in sight for Stuart Fuller-Shapcott at Sweethope, near Kelso, who had been “combining, combining and more combining” for the past 10 days.

“I should finish on Sunday (September 9) before the weather breaks,” he said.

The Optic spring barley had yielded about 5.6t/ha (2.3t/acre), which was disappointing, but the quality was excellent.

Einstein as a second wheat came in at 8.4t/ha (3.4t/acre) with very good quality, while the Solstice wheat made a disappointing 8.2t/ha (3.3t/acre) with very marginal Hagbergs.

“I’m also disappointed with the Alchemy as first wheat – it didn’t tiller in the dry spring and has yielded high 7t to low 8t/ha (2.8-3.2t/acre),” said Mr Fuller-Shapcott. “It won’t be going back in the ground again.”

He still had 24ha (60 acres) of Alchemy to cut, which was coming in at 16% moisture.

Crop: Spring barley
Variety: Optic
Yield: 5.6t/ha (2.3t/acre)

Crop: Winter wheat
Varieties: Alchemy, Einstein and Solstice
Yield: About 8.2t/ha (3.3t/acre)