Mr King has never grown the new hybrid variety Colossus before, but this year he decided to grow his entire 40ha (100 acre) barley crop with this one variety.

“I’ve put all my eggs in one basket this year.”

Due to the high winds and the unfavourable weather conditions the barley crop was a bit variable

“The crop is a little bit patchy- but this isn’t really a problem.”

Mr King said that despite the height of the new hybrid variety, the wind damage was not too bad.

“The yield is better than last year, but I expected this from a six row variety.”

Mr King wouldn’t comment how successful the new hybrid variety was until he had seen how others had fared with the two row varieties.

He did say that the quality was “looking alright” and that he was able to get 8.65t/ha – 9.88 t/ha (3.5 – 4 t/acre).

Mr King also grows 40ha (100 acres) of both spring barley and winter wheat.