Harvest finished on August 31 for Essex grower Alistair Pinkerton at Blackbirds Farm, North Weald.
 
“We had a great start then were stopped for 15 days, and it took three days to finish it off.”

He was just putting together yield and quality figures, but said it had looked good before the rain on 260ha (650acres) of Consort winter wheat.

 “The straw definitely deteriorated. I don’t know about the quality of the grain but it was still nice and bright.”

Mr Pinkerton planned to grow Solstice next year. “It is a good all-rounder, and cheaper than Xi19.”

Harvest was over 90% finished in the area and only farms with a large area were still cutting, he said.

• Crop: Winter wheat
• Variety: Consort
• Area: 260ha (650acres)
• Yield: N/A