No complaints near Dedington
Harvest at Leadenporch Farm, Dedington, Oxfordshire, was better than farm manager Lionel Wells could ever have expected.
“We don’t have any spring crops so we finished before the bank holiday, and considering the dry spring it was very pleasing.”
First, second and continuous wheats averaged 9.6t/ha (3.9t/acre) across the whole farm.
“We’re on a moisture retentive clay loam, and grew Zebedee as a first wheat, with Einstein and a bit of Panorama.
“The first wheats were way better than the second wheats – but the second wheats yielded the same as we would normally expect from the first wheats, so we can’t complain.”
Excalibur oilseed rape came off at 4.3t/ha (1.75t/acre), with Cabernet yielding 5.06t/ha (2.05t/acre).
“We didn’t dry any oilseed rape at all. The last few fields of wheat were cut at 17-18% moisture, so we had to dry about 35% of the wheat.”
Most farmers had finished harvest in the area, he added.
“We’re busy slug pelleting the oilseed rape now – the slugs are taking it just beneath the surface before it emerges.
“A little bit more rain wouldn’t go amiss, but we had a storm on Saturday evening which caught half the farm – thankfully it was the half with the oilseed rape drilled.”
Crop: Winter wheat
Varieties: Zebedee, Einstein and Panorama
Yield: 9.6t/ha (3.9t/acre)
Crop: Oilseed rape
Variety: Excalibur
Yield: 4.3t/ha (1.75t/acre)
Variety: Cabernet
Yield: 5.06t/ha (2.05t/acre)
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