Harvest 09: Under water in Meigle

Barley is still under water at Adrian Ivory’s Strathisla Farms, Meigle, Perthshire, following more rain yesterday (8 September).

“Ground conditions are hellish – we’ve had two tractors and trailers bogged pretty savagely, and large tracks are being left by the combines turning round before they sink.”

Mr Ivory had managed to combine 36ha (90 acres) of spring barley on Saturday and Monday, which averaged 6.9t/ha (2.8t/acre) at 17% moisture.

However, he still had 65ha (160 acres) of barley to finish, 24ha (60 acres) of which were still under water.

“We couldn’t see the heads for a while, but the rivers are going down and the water is now halfway up the stalks.

“It’s now a question of taking the fields that have got the best ground conditions first and leaving the rest to dry out for as long as possible.”

Mr Ivory also had 150ha (372 acres) of Istabraq and Alchemy winter wheat to combine. “It is all still standing, but there is the odd bit of sprouting here and there.”

With two combines and a forecast of better weather over the coming 7-10 days, he hoped to finish harvest not too far past his usual date of 15 September.

Crop: Spring barley
Variety: Optic
Yield: 6.2t/ha (2.5t/acre)

Variety: Toucan
Yield: 6.9t/ha (2.8t/acre)

Crop: Winter barley
Variety: Cyprus
Yield: 6.9t/ha (2.8t/acre).