Wheat on this farm is seldom fit to combine before mid August. But when I rubbed out a sample on our first drilled field yesterday morning it was 16% moisture and looked like it would thresh. So, at lunchtime we made a start and it went well. According to the continuous flow weigher on the combine we gathered 87t off just under 20 acres (8ha) with grain at 76hl. A good result and better than I had expected.
Flushed with this success we decided to try the next field drilled last autumn. In the gateway it looked as fit as the first. But half way round the headland it was clear that the heavier land there had not allowed the grain to ripen as fast and we had to stop combining. We looked at two or three other fields to see if they were ready but, like the one we had just had to abort, ripening was variable.
We'll just have to wait a few more days. And fortunately, and I say this with fingers and toes crossed, the forecast for the east of England is improving after today and tomorrow.
According to our local forecaster we can expect fine weather from Saturday onwards, probably for several days. Lets hope the met office has got it right this time and that we'll be able to harvest lots of grain that doesn't need drying. With values where they are we need to keep costs to a minimum as well as gather decent yields.