Tim Westgarth’s harvest has just been rained off at Holmedale Valley Ltd, Richmond, Yorkshire, but he hopes to be back on combining again soon.

“It was just a quick shower, so as long as there’s not another rain cloud behind it we should be going again later today (8 August),” he said.

“We finished cutting oilseed rape last night; we rushed the last bit because the forecast wasn’t too good.”

See also: Check the harvest weather forecast with FWi’s new service.

Rape yields proved slightly mixed, with PR46W21 coming off at 3.85t/ha, Excalibur at 4.10t/ha, and PT211 at 4.42t/ha. “Charger did the best at 4.57t/ha.”

Overall, the rapeseed averaged 4.27t/ha, over a weighbridge. “I think we’ve been slightly more fortunate with oilseed rape further north,” said Mr Westgarth.

“On the whole, I’m quite pleased with it. We had some fields that were badly rabbit-damaged, yet the worst field yielded second best.”

Having cut 80ha of Grafton winter wheat, Mr Westgarth was happy with progress, although yields were unexciting at 8.9t/ha. “The bushel weight was 74kg/hl – it’s only an average yield for us,” he said.

But winter barley was particularly disappointing, having looked great all year. “It looked exceptional, but it just didn’t fill, so the bushel weights are down at 62kg/hl.

“We grew Volume and Cassia, and there wasn’t much between them at 8.4t/ha.”