Colin Philliphs is eager to get combining again at Dairy Farm, Penhros, Monmouth, but wet weather continues to get in the way.

“It’s been a stop go affair so far. We’re two thirds of the way through but yield wise, it’s the worst harvest I remember.”

So far Mr Philliphs had cut all his oats, rapeseed and 56ha of Cordiale winter wheat, which was proving disappointing.

“Bushel weights are terrible and its probably yielding around 7.5t/ha instead of 10t/ha, which is what we’d normally expect.

“We were quite lucky that we had a dry week for the rapeseed but it’s been very catchy since and we’ve had to make the most of it in between showers.”

While all the Cordiale wheat was finished, Mr Philliphs was keen to get into the remaining Diego, which, he hoped, looked to be a better crop.

“We’ve spent a lot of money on fungicide and I’m hoping the Diego will do better than the Cordiale,” he said.

“It’s too wet to cut today (31 August), despite having glorious sunshine and wind.

“Hopefully we’ll get going tomorrow as it’s meant to be dry over the weekend, but the ground really needs to dry out.”

While crops had ripened a week or so ago, a spray of desiccant still hadn’t managed to clean them up, with plenty of greenery still in the wheat.

Mr Philliphs was getting increasingly concerned about getting this crop of wheat off, but remained relaxed about cultivations ahead.

“We haven’t drilled any rapeseed yet but I’m not worried. In 2007 we didn’t finish drilling until 20 September and it was a good crop so I’m not panicking yet.”

Crop: Winter Wheat
Variety: Cordiale
Are 56ha
Yield: 7.5t/ha