Flying along near Farnham
Giles Porter is flying through harvest at Penn Croft Farms, Farnham, Surrey.
“We’ve fortunately missed most of the heavy showers and some of the lighter ones,” he said. “It rained overnight (5 August) but we managed to get on over the weekend.
“So far we’ve cut 120ha of winter barley for ourselves and a neighbour, and 162ha of oilseed rape.”
Barley yields were unexciting, at just over 7.4t/ha. “But the Cassata has made the malting grade, which is pleasing.”
Oilseed rape had been extremely variable, ranging from 3t to 4t/ha. “We’ve got Camelot, Fashion, Sesame and PR46W21, and it’s difficult to say why the yields are so different.
“Most of it looked fairly even coming into the spring, but it hasn’t followed through to harvest – one field is good and the next door one isn’t, I’m not sure why.”
A lot of rapeseed in the area wasn’t yet fit, added Mr Porter.
“We’ve got two or three days left in the oilseed rape, and then our Cordiale winter wheat will be nearly ready to go, if we get some sun.”
Crop: Winter barley
Variety: Cassata
Area: 120ha
Yield: 7.4t/ha
Crop: Oilseed rape
Varieties: Camelot, Fashion, Sesame and PR46W21
Area: 162ha
Yield: 3-4t/ha
