Winter barley harvest in County Down is complete, but winter wheat harvest is still about a week away, according to Charles Davidson at North Down Grain.

“There’s not a lot of winter barley grown around here, and we had an excellent week of weather so it’s all cleared up,” he said.

“Yields were okay – no better than average.”

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The very wet autumn and winter had resulted in low bushel weights and yields, of 62kg/hl upwards and 6.8t/ha, respectively.

“The straw isn’t as plentiful as last year, either.”

Farmers had now sprayed off their winter wheat, so should start harvesting that next week (w/c 11 August), said Mr Davidson.

“Most of the spring barley is about ready, too. But we’ve had some very heavy rain, so nothing will be cut for a while,” he added.

“Fortunately, it’s all still standing – nothing has gone flat.”