Up to 75% of malting barley samples in the South may fail to make the grade, according Nick Brown of Wiltshire Grain.

“Most of the barley is pretty nondescript.” Although yields had been good, split skins and fusarium were common problems, he said.

“I reckon we’ve thrown 50% out (into the feed bin), and half of what we’ve kept may not be any good either, depending on what the maltsters want, with East Anglia having had good quality crops.”

Less than 10% of milling wheat – most of which was Solstice – was testing as full specification grade, said Mr Brown.

“Proteins have been down because of good yields – but Hagbergs have been good enough, which has been surprising.”

Most Solstice was testing at about 12.2-12.4% protein, with about 80% likely to achieve some sort of premium over feed.

Intake to the store was about 65% complete, and most farmers would have finished harvest by the end of this week, he added.