Harvest is progressing well today (3 September), with combines going across most of the country, although previous rain has left conditions somewhat sticky.

In Scotland, Sandy Allison was cutting winter wheat on some rather soggy ground.

“Luckily we min-till and don’t plough, which, alongside our combine being on tracks, has meant we are able to keep cutting,” he said.

In Yorkshire, Chris Smith started cutting a crop of wheat this morning at 18% moisture, which had a surprisingly high protein content.

“This crop wasn’t supposed to go for milling but the protein content is right so it is,” he said. “It’s a really good sample, too.”

Further south, harvest was somewhat gloomy for Chris Vowles near Bristol, as some of his spring barley had failed to germinate and his field of vegetables had been washed away twice.

“I expected a lot more but we’ve cut at reasonable moisture contents,” he said. “There’s always light at the end of the tunnel.”

In Norfolk, Paul Hartley had got on fairly well so far, with wheat yields in the 8.5t to 9t/ha bracket. Rapeseed had also done fairly well, yielding 4.25t/ha.

“It hasn’t been the best year but we haven’t been stuck,” he said. “It was a slow start and we would normally done by now.”

On the Isle of Wight, Mark Orlick had finished harvest at Newbarton Farm, although it had been challenge trying to balance hay making with harvest and baling straw.

“We’ve probably baled less straw this year just because we’ve had to make hay, harvest and bale all at the same time,” he said. “It was very stop start.”