Finally, a decent spell of weather to get harvest going.

The recent high pressure dried our Caravelle winter barley down to 14% and there was some nice-looking golden straw.

Even the small volunteer wheat contamination didn’t seem to hamper the moisture.

See also: Cambs grower plans for bigger milling wheat area

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Richard Harris

Richard Harris manages his family farm in partnership with his father in south Devon. The farm grows wheat, barley, linseed, grass and cover crops, with a small pick-your-own pumpkin patch.

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However, yields are down on what we would like. This was expected as a result of the wet winter weather and the condition of the crop in the early spring.

Volume-wise it looks to be about 7t/ha, but with a very good-looking bushel weight, which we will test in the coming weeks, so all in all it might yield a touch more than the volume would suggest.

It’s certainly 1t/ha lower than our average and 2t/ha lower than where I would like it to be.

A kinder winter to reduce the bare/thin areas and a higher proportion of early nitrogen is required for the 2024-25 crop.

This should thicken up the density of ear numbers, which is certainly where the shortfall was.

We will be subsoiling the tramlines once the straw has been removed and tucked away in the shed before drilling our multispecies cover crops.

I was very pleased with last year’s mix, so we are drilling the same again: phacelia, buckwheat, spring vetch, berseem clover and stubble turnips.

This will cost about £50/ha, so not cheap, but certainly a worthwhile investment for the future of our soil fertility, especially if drilled in early August where we should get three months of good growing conditions out of it.

The wheat doesn’t look too far off.

Expectations are higher for the wheat both on the grain and straw front, it fared much better in the winter and even with the high septoria pressure, seemed to hold enough green leaf area for grain fill. Time will tell.

This sunshine should also be doing the linseed the power of good.

The crop is in full seed fill and still looks a picture. So like the wheat, expectations are higher than the barley and we live in hope for another day.