Finished wheat at Tilney
Dan Matthews has just finished combining wheat at Eaubrink Farms, Tilney All Saints, Norfolk, leaving just the beans to do.
“We thought we would have been finished 10 days ago, but the past three weeks have been a bit of a battle with the showers.”
Despite the wet weather, bushelweights and wheat quality had held up well, and yields were above the five-year average of 10t/ha (4t/acre).
“We had, among others, Zebedee, Invicta, Oakley, Battalion and Viscount,” said Mr Matthews.
“The Oakley and Invicta have been outstanding, although a lot of it was to do with the position in the rotation.
“Crops drilled after sugar beet fared less well than after oilseed rape, as they were poorly rooted and didn’t cope as well with the dry spring.”
Heavy land had held onto moisture pretty well, whereas lighter land had not done quite so well.
Oilseed rape exceeded the budget of 4.5t/ha (1.8t/acre), said Mr Matthews. “We had high erucic rape, Expower, PR46W21 and Cabernet; and the hybrids fared the best.”
Crop: Winter wheat
Varieties: Zebedee, Invicta, Oakley, Battalion and Viscount
Yield: >10t/ha (4t/acre)
Crop: Oilseed rape
Varieties: Expower, PR46W21 and Cabernet
Yield: >4.5t/ha (1.8t/acre)
