Harvest round-up: Well ahead of schedule

Harvest progress is back in full swing after the heavy rain stopped play at the weekend, with most farmers well ahead of schedule and pleasantly surprised with results.

In Wiltshire, Edward Parsons was exceptionally pleased with the Grade one milling wheat at Templemans Farm, Redlynch.

“We put in 44ha of Crusoe and the yields have been phenomenal,” he said. “We’ve still got some in the ground, but from what we’ve cut, yields have reached around 11t/ha.”

Steve Dawson was also pleasantly surprised with yields at Dawson Farms, Swainby, Yorkshire.

“We’ve cut about 260ha of Bamboo and Volume winter barley,” he said. “Yields have averaged 10.4t/ha dry, which we’re extremely happy with.”

However, oilseed rape yields had been the surprise of the year, at 5.2t/ha off the combine.

“Although the seed seems small in comparison to other years, the yields seem to have compensated for this, which we weren’t expecting,” he added.

See also: Upload your harvest photos to our Harvest Highlights gallery.

In Lincolnshire, David Hoyles, was extremely pleased with this year’s beetroot crop at Monmouth Farm, Long Sutton.

“We had 30ha of Tablo and it’s the best emergence we’ve seen over the past five years,” he said. “We’ve seen yields reach 37t/ha, which is up by about 15% on previous years.”

In Ireland, Robert Craig was making the most of the conditions at Carse Hall, Londonderry, and harvest was well ahead of schedule.

“We’ve cut most of the Cassia winter barley with yields at 8–8.6t/ha, which was very pleasing,” he said.

“Although the straw was a bit green, we made the most of the fantastic conditions – we’ve never cut barley at those moisture levels in the past.”

Stephen Whitby was also back on the combine at Rowley Farm, Slough, after heavy thunderstorms put a stop to harvest over the weekend.

“Of the Gallant and Cordiale winter wheat cut so far, yields have averaged 8-9t/ha, dependant on soil type, and is coming off at 12-14% moisture,” he said.

“With another good week of weather we’ll be done. It’s just disappointing to see the prices so low.”