Heavy rain overnight meant Ben Whitworth was not combining at his farm near Wix, Essex, today (August 23).

“We’ve got 32ha (80 acres) of Istabraq wheat to go,” he said. Yields had proved variable from the 140ha (346 acres) of Gatsby and Alchemy already cut. But they were about 1t/ha (0.4t/acre) down on average, at 7.5-8t/ha (3-3.2t/acre).

The 75ha (185 acres) of oilseed rape was also disappointing at 3.5t/ha (1.4t/acre)

But the Bard and Estima potatoes were yielding well because of the late harvest. “It’s been going pretty slow because of the rain and our antiquated system of lifting them straight into bags. We’re just puddling along.”

• Crop: Winter wheat
  
• Area: 140ha (346 acres)
  
• Varieties: Gatsby and Alchemy
  
• Yield: 7.5-8t/ha (3-3.2t/acre)

• Crop: Oilseed rape
  
• Area: 75ha (185 acres)
  
• Yield: 3.5t/ha (1.4t/acre)