John Jeffrey is overjoyed with barley yields at Kersknowe Farm, Kelso, after the earliest start to harvest since 2003.

“We started combining on 17 July, and should finish the 82ha of winter barley this evening (25 July),” he said.

“Both straw and grain yields have been phenomenal. We’ve had Cassia, Pearl, and Glacier – which yielded the best – and have averaged 8-8.5t/ha.”

See also: Upload your harvest photos to our Harvest Highlights gallery.

Quality was good, at 62-66kg/hl and 1.6% nitrogen, so the malting varieties have made the grade as well, added Mr Jeffrey.

“The oilseed rape is all desiccated, so it will probably be ready to cut in the first week of August.

“It looks really well, but then when rapeseed looks poor it usually does well and vice versa, so we could be in for a bad surprise.”

Wheat, which established very well in the autumn, also looked promising, he added.