Wheat and beans harvest had finished for Lincolnshire grower Edward Whitfield at Gibbs Farm, with only linseed and 16ha (40ac) of lupins remaining.

Wheat had performed very well with 360ha (900ac) yielding 10-12.5t/ha (4-5t/ac), which was above the 10.75t/ha (4.3t/ac) farm average.

He said: “It’s the best harvest we’ve ever had.”

Quality was good and he said they were lucky to have cut all the wheat before the wet weather. Quality of Hereward and Cordiale was “excellent” and met milling specification, but Solstice protein levels had been too low.

Bushel weights were 78-86kg/hl and both Welford and Access were “consistently extremely good”. Mr Whitfield was not so pleased with yields of 40ha (100ac) of Richmond, but quality was OK.

He was pleased most of the crop came in below 15% moisture avoiding high diesel costs for drying. Only a small amount had to be dried having come in at 20% moisture.

Next year he planned to increase his acreage to 400ha (1000ac) of first wheats Alchemy, Welford, Access, Cordiale and Hereward.

• Crop: Winter wheat
• Varieties: Hereward, Cordiale, Solstice, Richmond, Welford, Access
• Area: 360ha (900ac)
• Yield: 10-12.5t/ha (4-5t/ac)
• Quality: Bushel weight 78-86kg/hl