Jon Shaxson has got underway with his wheat harvest by combining 20ha (50 acres) of both Xi-19 and Malacca near Midhurst, West Sussex.

However the Xi-19 wasn’t quite ready as some of the stems were still green forcing him to wait a little longer to ensure it’s completely ripe.

“It looks fantastic and the Malacca looks good as well.”

The Xi-19 was yielding 9t/ha (3.64 t/acre) while the Malacca was yielding 8-9 t/ha (3.24-3.64 t/acre).

Mr Shaxson is very grateful that he’s had a dry spell for the last couple of days.

“Thank God we missed those showers yesterday – we’re very lucky.”

Contract work was also done on Saturday for the neighbouring farm by Mr Shaxson where he combined 12ha (30 acres) of Soissons.

Mr Shaxson said the main reason he has been able to harvest this early is because of the very sandy soil on which the farm lies.

He has also been lucky enough to avoid recent rain and storms.