Harvest is yet to get underway in Northern Ireland, with most winter barley still at least five days off, according to Charles Davidson at North Down Grain, Newtonards.

“The grain is ripening but the straw is still green,” he said. “We’ve had a really good period of weather, but now it’s starting to rain: It must be nearly harvest.”

With rain forecast for the remainder of the week, Mr Davidson didn’t expect winter barley harvest to begin until Monday (21 July) at the earliest.

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“The crops look well. There’s not much oilseed rape grown round here, but what there is nowhere near ready,” he added.

“There’s still the odd yellow flower in the fields; it will be three weeks before it’s ready to cut.”

With the expansion of dairy farming in the region, the acreage of winter wheat had contracted sharply over the past 15 years, said Mr Davidson.

“There aren’t the cereals there used to be – there’s a lot more maize instead, and a lot of the wheat that is grown will be cut for wholecrop.”