“It’s looking encouraging” said Mr Stratton

So far he’s harvested 32 ha (79 acres) out of a total 109 ha (270 acres) of barley on his 1700 ha (4200 acre) farm.

His 22 ha (54 acres) of Carat has come in at 64 kg/hl specific weight and a yield of 7.6 t/ha (3.1 t/acre) over the weighbridge.

Also 10 ha (25 acres) of Pict has been harvested with a 66 kg/hl specific weight and 8.5 t/ha (3.4 t/acre) yield.

On average the barley crop has been recorded with a 17% moisture content

Mr Stratton said this was “a much better year than last year”

He grows predominantly wheat on the chalky soil of his farm. “I‘m really excited about the wheat crop – it looks exceptional.”

Mr Stratton said he had no problems with any disease, and that this year he is expecting a ‘bumper harvest’.

This may be because he took precautions against problems such as orange blossom midge early on.

Mr Stratton also grows other combinable crops such as spring barley, oats, oilseed rape and linseed.

He also has grass fields for the livestock part of his farm.