Harvest is about 65% through in East Anglia, and cereal quality has been exceptional, according to Andrew Dewing of Dewing Grain.

“We’re having a great harvest, and it’s going to be almost all over by the weekend. We’ve had a 99.9% success rate with winter malting barley, and it’s a similar story on the springs.”

Flagon averaged 1.53% nitrogen, with Pearl at 1.51%. Tipple was coming in at 1.52%, and Quench was similar at 1.51%.

All had good germination and low screenings, with 95% retained. “We are delighted with our quality.

“The problem is that there’s an oversupply of barley, and a logistical issue is beginning to develop with storage space.”

Wheat quality had been equally good, averaging 13.1% protein, 76kg/hl and decent Hagberg numbers. “I haven’t seen any problem with Hagberg at all,” said Mr Dewing.

“It’s an exceptionally good quality crop from East Anglia this year.”

Yields had been variable, with some crops knocked by drought in the spring, he added. “Bushelweight has been the key, because the head count wasn’t there.”

With some good yields and some poor, he reckoned the overall yield was close to the five-year average.