The vast majority of winter barley and oilseed rape is now cut in the UK with a good start made to the winter wheat and spring barley harvest in southern England.

Yield estimates for winter barley and oilseed rape are well above long-term averages, while early wheat yields were also good, reported crop scientists group Adas.

Overall, 30% of the UK combinable crop area has been cut according to Adas’ latest weekly report up to Tuesday 11 August.

This include 90% of winter barley, 80% of oilseed rape, 10% of  winter wheat and 5% of spring barley.

See also: Wheat area falls 5.8%, barley up 6% for 2015 harvest

The main focus of the harvest in southern England was the start of the winter wheat harvest and finishing off winter barley and oilseed rape.

Further north, a start was made on harvesting winter barley and oilseed rape, it said.

The weather in the week of 5-11 August covered by the report was fine and dry and good growing conditions saw most crops yield well, although recent weather has turned wet.

The Adas report highlighted:

• Winter barley – 90% of the crop is harvested with estimated average yields of 7.2-7.4t/ha, a 11-14% rise on the 10-year average of 6.5t/ha. Quality is good with high specific weights and low screenings.
• Oilseed rape – 80% of the crop is cut with average yields of 3.6-3.8t/ha, a 5-11% rise on the 10-year average of 3.4t/ha. Quality is generally good with oil contents of 43-47%.
• Winter wheat – 10% of the crop is harvested with average yields at 7.9-8.1t/ha, a rise of 2-5% above the 10-year average of 7.7t/ha. Quality is good from limited samples showing high hagbergs and specific weights.
• Spring barley – 5% of the crop is combined with average yields at 6.0-6.5t/ha, above the 10-year average of 5.4t/ha.
• Oats – 10% of the crop is harvested with yields ranging from 4.8t/ha to 8.5t/ha compared with a 10-year average of 5.7t/ha.