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Know How / Harvest

Harvest is the busiest time of year for arable farmers. Get ready for harvest with advice on hiring harvest workers, maintaining combines and harvest kit and preparing grain stores and crop storage. Keep-up-to date with harvest progress around the country and get the yield results as they come in. 

Latest harvest news

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HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Six-row hybrid winter barley survives wet autumn

Early winter barley yields are better than expected on James Peck’s Cambridgeshire farm, with the six-row hybrid feed variety Belfry yielding an average of 8.2t/ha. He start cutting his first…

ARABLE

Harvest 2020: Oxford rapeseed grower pleased with 3.5t/ha yield

Oxfordshire grower George Farrant is pleased with his yield of 3.5t/ha from his oilseed rape harvest, and plans a bigger area next season after nearly abandoning the crop. He cut…

HARVEST

Malting winter barley harvest defies forecast with good yields

Combines started cutting early winter malting barley crops this week across southern England, with yields better than expected after a very difficult growing season. Scattered crops of malting varieties were…

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Malting barley crops look good south of the M4

Malting barley crops look very promising on the light chalkland south of the M4 motorway in southern England, with winter barley harvesting likely to start in earnest next week. Jonathan…

HARVEST

Video: Winter barley combining kicks off in Norfolk

Cereal harvest is now underway in East Anglia, with Norfolk grower Mike Dennis pleased with the yield and quality of his winter barley, after a very wet winter and parched…

HARVEST

Combines roll in Devon fields as winter barley harvest starts

Harvest 2020 is now under way, with the first fields of winter barley having been cut on 23 June, at 13% moisture, on a beef, sheep and arable farm in…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Harvest safety warning on overhead power lines

Farmers and contractors are being encouraged to carry out risk assessments on overhead power lines on land ahead of starting harvest work. Every year in the UK, on average one…

HARVEST

Winter barley harvest under way in Somerset

Harvest 2020 has begun at Higher Woodlands Farm, near Taunton, Somerset, where the Lucas family started cutting their winter barley crop, ready for crimping for livestock feed on the family's…

Get ready for harvest

Practical advice

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

Get ready for harvest: How to carry out a safety induction

Farmers who take on staff to help them over the harvest period should make sure all workers are given a clear health and safety briefing before they start work. It…

POTATOES

5 tips on effective use of maleic hydrazide in potatoes

Good application is essential in getting the most from maleic hydrazide, which AHDB trials have shown to be a useful, cost-effective tool for controlling early dormancy break in potatoes. This…

POTATOES

Video: Top tips for successful potato flailing

Mechanically flailing potato haulms to remove the majority of the biomass not only slows down tuber bulking, it can also speed up the desiccation process by as much as 25%.…

POTATOES

What potato growers need to consider before diquat ban

This is the last season that potato growers can use the broad-spectrum herbicide diquat to desiccate their potato crops, therefore, growers are being urged to look at alternatives this summer.…

BUSINESS

Business Clinic: Insurance tips for student harvest help

Whether it’s a legal, tax, insurance, management or land issue, Farmers Weekly’s experts can help. Here, Paige Dalby of insurance broker Farmers and Mercantile explains what checks to make when…

DISEASE MANAGEMENT

Why fusarium risk is rising in wheat and how to manage it

With rising incidence of fusarium ear blight and changes to mycotoxin legal limits on the horizon, experts are advising wheat growers to adopt a more water-tight, integrated approach to minimising…

Case studies

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OILSEED RAPE

OSR Masters: Growers make a good start to new season

Drilling dates have varied by five weeks and costs are being kept low as our Oilseed Rape Masters get this season’s crops up and away. Adam Driver, Driver Farms, Brockley,…

BARLEY

Barley grower sees winter crop come up trumps

Malting barley grower Andy Roberts’ strategy of growing both winter and spring crops paid a dividend this summer as good quality from the former made up for a more problematic…

HARVEST

Video: Farmer shares lessons learnt fighting huge crop fire

Since the early start to harvest at the beginning of July, Twitter has been awash with reports of crop fires across the country, exacerbated by tinder-dry conditions. As the hot,…

PULSES

How winter bean grower in Yorkshire achieved top yields

A perfect bean-growing year produced a record yield for one East Yorkshire grower and a good enough sample for human consumption to win a prestigious quality award. Robin Smyth grew…

ARABLE

Video: Hands Free Hectare - what next for the farming robots?

Excitement, pride, trepidation – just some of the feelings buzzing around a perfectly square hectare field in Shropshire as a driverless combine took its first bite of a crop that…

HARVEST

Lincs grower sets sights on 2018 wheat yield record attempt

Lincolnshire Wolds grower Tim Lamyman is planning to drill his winter wheat earlier this autumn in his quest to break the world wheat yield record, after falling short this summer.…

Insights

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

Apps help lone workers stay safe on the farm

A Norfolk potato adviser who had to crawl for help after shattering his skull in a 9m fall is emphasising the need to stay safe when working alone on the…

HARVEST

Harvest verdict: Barley is the winner in mixed season

The 2019 harvest started in ideal dry conditions with winter barley growers reporting bumper crops coming off with good quality, some were even seeing yields well into double digits.    But…

MAIZE

Rain puts pressure on maize with tricky harvest

Prolonged rain has made maize harvesting difficult in recent days, with some suffering with flooding and high rainfall. Maize maturity has already been slowed by rain as green plants have…

POTATOES

How extreme weather has hit UK and European potato yields

Potato yields are looking better in the UK than elsewhere in north-west Europe, where it is still too dry to lift crops.  The potato crop is forecast to be 3%…

HARVEST

Harvest 2019: The 5 top-yielding spring barley varieties map

Throughout the harvest season, we are updating our handy map with the latest data from 2019’s AHDB spring barley Recommended List harvest results. Use the map below to find the…

POTATOES

Why non-flail potato desiccation is still an option post-diquat

While the loss of diquat is a setback for potato growers, there are still viable chemical options for destroying potato haulm, according to early results from this season’s AHDB desiccation…

POTATOES

Potato contractor finds the best tractor for flailing success

Lincolnshire potato contractor David Matthews expects potato haulms to have a high biomass at burndown time, thanks to this year’s growing season, and says growers will need a lot of…

VARIETY SELECTION

Harvest 2019: The 5 top-yielding winter oilseed rape varieties

Throughout the harvest season, we are updating our handy map with the latest data from 2019’s AHDB winter oilseed rape Recommended List harvest results. Use the map below to find…

HARVEST

Harvest 2019: The 5 top-yielding winter barley varieties map

Throughout the harvest season, we are updating our handy map with the latest data from 2019’s AHDB winter barley Recommended List harvest results. Use the map below to find the…

HARVEST

Two diquat alternatives trialled in linseed

Two alternatives to diquat for desiccating linseed crops are currently being trialled, with the aim of being available to growers for harvest 2020. Linseed growers currently only have two options…

HARVEST

How the drought has affected potato yields and quality

The eating potato crop is forecast to be nearly 20% smaller than last year in north-west Europe because of the summer drought, with tuber size and quality also suffering. Some…