Stephen Whitby was back on the combine yesterday afternoon (29 July) at Rowley Farm, Wexham, Slough, after heavy thunderstorms put a stop to harvest over the weekend.

“Last weekend gave us an inch of rain in 20 minutes, which ground operations to a halt,” he said.

“However, we’re making good progress now and yields are okay, with the oats reaching 7.5-8t/ha and coming off at 14% moisture.”

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Of the Gallant and Cordiale winter wheat cut so far, yields were averaging 8-9t/ha, dependant on soil type, coming off at 12-14% moisture.

“Although we’re still waiting for samples to come back we’re happy that everything’s been on the right side of average,” Mr Whitby said.

“The only downside with the wheat is that the protein is possibly a little on the low side, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

Although blackgrass was around early on in the year, the crops had had very few disease problems, and mycotoxins were low, he added.

“We’ve been lucky with disease, and with the dry weather drying costs are minimal. Straw quality has also been good, and we only turned some straw for the first time yesterday.”

Mr Whitby expected to be finished earlier than usual, with harvest seven days ahead of last year.

“With another good week of weather we’ll be done,” he said. “It’s just disappointing to see the prices so low.”