Harvest in full flow in Suffolk

Andrew Flatt is more than halfway through harvest at J Flatt & Son’s Hill Farm, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, with two combines in full flow at home and on contract farms.
“We’ve cut about 2024ha, so we’re getting on very well,” he said. Today (4 August), he was combining wheat at 16% moisture, and was extremely pleased with yields.
“They’re very high – we’ve had a lot at 10t/ha plus. All varieties are doing fairly well, with most on heavy soil in East Suffolk.”
See also: 10 mean, moody and magnificent harvest photos.
Feed barley had also yielded well, averaging around 9t/ha, said Mr Flatt.
“But oilseed rape wasn’t as good as we’d anticipated. Some of the crops that looked the best were not the best yielding.”
In general, wheat quality had been good, although protein contents were variable, with the only high protein crop grown on heavily manured ground at a pig farm, he added.
“We started combining wheat on 26 July, which is the earliest ever for us.
“It’s been a very pleasing harvest in general, apart from the price. We’ve been very lucky with the weather, and everyone is pushing on well.”