Nick Davidson in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, said harvest was much earlier than he had thought. “It’s going pretty well: we’ve got all the oilseed rape and winter barley in and dried.”

Thirty two hectares of Mendel oilseed rape yielded 1t/ha up on last year at 4.25t/ha. He said many north eastern growers would grow this variety and expected to continue with it next year.

“It’s an awful lot better than last year. Yields in the area are generally better than last year.” He said this may be due to the crop maturing a fortnight later in May and so it missed the spring frost.

Winter barley also did very well for Mr Davidson, with 34ha Sequel cutting at 8.75-10t/ha. Yields were above average, and specific weights were good at 69kg/hl.

“The quality was just as good as two-row Regina and we got a good quality of straw so it all did very well.”

He expected winter wheat to be ready within three or four weeks. “They look very promising.”

• Crop: Winter barley
• Variety: Sequel
• Area: 34ha
• Yield: 8.75-10t/ha
• Quality: Bushel weight 69kg/hl

• Crop: Oilseed Rape
• Variety: Mendel
• Area: 32ha
• Yield: 4.25t/ha