Sandy Norrie still has 405ha of winter wheat left to cut at Muirden Farm, Turriff, Aberdeenshire, and has had excellent yields all round.

“The winter barley was very pleasing. In some areas we saw yields make 8t/ha while another field of Meridian reached 12.4t/ha,” he said.

Of the top three winter barley varieties harvested this year, Volume was the most consistent at 9.8t/ha. Most of the Meridian and Glacier averaged 11.3t/ha. 

“Straw quality was also excellent, with some areas difficult to combine due to the quantity of straw,” he added.

The 384ha of winter oilseed rape also exceeded expectations at an average of 4.6t/ha. In one area Anastasia reached 5.4t/ha. 

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“There have been significant issues with clubroot in the area but we’ve been very lucky, from when we put in in last year right through to harvest,” said Mr Norrie.

“We didn’t have a bad winter and conditions were excellent when it came to putting it through the combine.”

Mr Norrie was still in the early stages of the winter wheat harvest. Of the wheat cut so far, Viscount had yielded 9.4t/ha while Riband came in at 9.6t/ha. The star performer of the year was 20ha of Beluga at 11.1t/ha.  

“We’re getting the combine around the wheat as it becomes ready to cut,” he said. “In the meantime, we’re also getting everything ready for next year.”

Mr Norrie already had already put in 404ha of oilseed rape, split between Anastasia, Mentor and Amalie.

“We’re hoping to get the winter barley in next week as well as getting the winter wheat cut,” he said. “It’s all fingers crossed for a good few weeks to come.”