Farmer Focus: New Fendt combine breezing through harvest

The 2022 harvest is all about moisture (or the lack of it) until today – 17 August. We had 20mm overnight and other areas have had up to 80mm. Thankfully not here.

Harvest is progressing well, although I feel like we are last to finish. I’ve resisted the urge to push on regardless and instead tried to only cut cereals over 13% moisture and the same with winter beans.

Germination in beans can be restricted by up to 30% when moisture levels are down to 10 or 11%, so hopefully, now they’ve got wet, we can get them at 16%.

See also: Farmer Focus: Wheat yields hold up well despite no rain in July

About the author

Keith Challen

Arable Farmer Focus writer

Keith Challen manages 1,200ha of heavy clay soils in the Vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire, for Belvoir Farming Company. Cropping includes wheat, oilseed rape and elderflowers. The farm is also home to the Belvoir Fruit Farms drinks business.

Read more articles by Keith Challen

Yields have varied, but on the whole are very pleasing.

If you hold a yield map over a conductivity scan, they match up this year. This shows that on our farm the higher the clay content, the higher the yield.

Some 80% plus clays turned in some massive yields in all crops.

As you would expect, the quality of the cereals in particular is diluted – with Skyfall struggling to get over 12% protein.

Despite a couple of minor breakdowns, our new Fendt Ideal 10 combine has gone exceptionally well, breezing through the acres fairly effortlessly, with some impressive outputs.

I know I’ve said this before, but going from steering wheel to joystick has been fantastic, we just need to get one retrofitted to the quadtrac now.

Cultivations haven’t really started in earnest yet. Most soils are too hard, except after winter beans where you always get that lovely friable tilth.

Hopefully, last night’s 20mm will allow us to start on wheat stubbles. With no oilseed rape again this year, the first crop to be drilled will be winter beans in early September. Plenty of time yet.

Finally, I want to thank my neighbours. On Monday 18 July, a fire broke out and spread through standing crops of wheat.

Luckily, Flawborough Farms were able to quickly get a tractor and cultivator there to put in a firebreak, while the fire brigade protected residential properties.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt.