One field was sprayed with Roundup (glyphosate) two weeks earlier.

“It looked fit but when we started to harvest the field it came in at 21% moisture so we had to stop, but then when we tried again the next day and the field was at 8.4% moisture.

“It‘s amazing! It went from borderline to dead in a matter of hours.”

Mr Holland has so far harvested 405 ha (1,000 acres) and still has another 285 ha (1,200 acres) still to do.

“We’ve still got 5-6 days of harvesting still to do.”

On his more southern farm he said: “It’s been slightly disappointing.”

While on his other farm nearer Newbury it’s been quite variable.

“Some people think it’s been so variable because of late frosts, but I don’t think that’s it – I just don’t know.”

He said that the direct drilled crops didn’t establish as well as the minimum till.

Mr Holland said his best yields from Royal were 4.08 t/ha (1.65 t/acre) while the worst from Winner were 3.09 t/ha (1.25 t/acre).

Moisture contents on average have been sub 9%.

For the second year in a row Mr Holland has been very impressed with his Royal variety.

“Royal is a great variety, it’s consistent and I recommend it.”

While he admitted: “I’ve never been a fan of Winner,” but the variety proved to disappoint him again with the lowest yield out of the three varieties he’s so far harvested.

“My Escort has a certain oceanic look to it and once it’s bent over there is 3 times the amount of crop going through the combine meaning the combine has to go slower but other wise it‘s OK.”

He is also growing Caracas because it was recommended by Dalgety, but is still not sure if it was the right decision to make.