Combines continue to press on ahead of forecast showers, with milling wheat quality under threat if wet weather persists.

For now, milling wheat quality looked promising, said Simon Ingle at Openfield, with high bushelweights and bold grains.

“There’s a wide variation in protein, but on average it is slightly above last year, at 13.1% compared to 12.9% last season.

“But Hagbergs are not awfully robust, at 270-280, and I don’t know if the crop is going to be very resilient to weathering if the weather does turn poor as forecast.”

In Essex, Andrew Kerr was combining wheat today (3 August) at New House Farm, North Weald, with very variable results.

“We’re about halfway through, and yields range from 6.2t/ha to 9.9t/ha (2.5-4t/acre), depending on whether they are second wheats or on lighter land.

“That’s slightly better than I’d expected, although we have got some worse stuff to come.”

Further north, David Richardson had returned to cutting oilseed rape after starting on winter wheat over the weekend at J. Porter & Son’s Barn Farm, Navenby, Lincolnshire.

“We cut a field of Vision rapeseed yesterday at 5.7t/ha (2.3t/acre) and another today at over 6.2t/ha (2.5t/acre), but it was still a bit green so we’ve moved to a riper crop.”

Grafton second wheat had yielded a very pleasing 10t/ha (4t/acre), with a bushelweight of 81kg/hl and 3.1t/ha (1.25t/acre) of straw.

David Brightman was also combining wheat today at Gaydon Hill Farm, Gaydon, Warwickshire, and expected it to yield about average.

“I’ve been running around madly trying to get driers working,” he said. The Einstein was coming off at 19% moisture on the headlands and 13.5% in the middle of the field.

“I think second wheats will be about average, but the first wheats look pretty good.”

In Wiltshire, Stephen Moore had started combining spring barley at Manor Farm, Stapleford, and was pleasantly surprised at yields.

“It will be better than we thought, and the sample looks nice.” The Concerto would yield between 6.2t and 7.4t/ha (2.5-3t/acre), he said.

But the crop of the year would be oilseed rape, which averaged 5t/ha (2t/acre).  “We have never done anything close to that as an average, so we’re really pleased.”