Graham Furey put the combine to bed at Castleview in Killyleagh, County Down, in the week ending 20 September after finishing his 100ha of combinable crops.

“Spring wheat was a first for us this year,” he says. The 20ha of Mulika and Chilham spring feed wheat averaged 5t/ha after drying. Despite a little more discolouration than usual, quality was reasonable, with a specific weight of 76kg/hl.

“We would usually drill 40ha of winter wheat, but ground conditions became impossible so we only managed half the hectarage,” he adds.

His 20ha of early-drilled Graham and later-drilled Zyatt winter wheat averaged 7.4t/ha, with specific weights of 78kg/hl. “It was a welcome relief,” says Mr Furey.

The 30ha of Bazooka and Orwell winter barley averaged 6.2t/ha and ranged from 65 to 70kg/hl, while 15ha of Exsteel oilseed rape yielded a pleasing 4.5t/ha, having escaped the challenges of cabbage stem flea beetle.

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Scotland

Across the water in northern Scotland, Donald Ross has also finished harvest at Rhynie Farm, with some pleasing results.

“Conditions were much better here than in other areas – we’ve heard of problems with skinning and pre-germination further south, but we’ve had good quality overall,” he says.

Mr Ross’s 52ha of spring malting barley Laureate fared well, with specific weights of 64-65kg/hl and a nitrogen content of 1.35% – meeting maltsters’ specifications. “It exceeded our anticipated yield by 0.5t/ha, averaging 8.9t/ha,” he adds.

Skyscraper, Spotlight and Grafton winter wheat averaged 12.4t/ha across 61ha, with specific weights from 77-82kg/hl.

His Canyon winter oats were successful too, yielding 8.7t/ha, while Aspire oilseed rape came off at 3.7t/ha.

Durham 

Moving south, Michael Manners finished harvest on 21 September at Coniscliffe Grange, near Darlington, with spring beans exceeding expectations.

“Considering the year, our 101ha of Vertigo did very well – yielding 4.9t/ha with good quality,” he says.

His most surprising crop was spring barley. “It suffered with the drought and high winds; we also had secondary tillering after the June rains, which affected about 50% of the 134ha of Diablo. We anticipated no more than 5t/ha, but it yielded 7.4t/ha which was remarkable,” he adds.

Gleam winter wheat – of which 101ha was drilled early and 16ha in February – averaged 11t/ha, with specific weights at 82kg/hl.

Mr Manners also trialled 8ha of Parkin, which matched the yield and quality of the Gleam.

Lincolnshire 

Even further south, James Woodroff had a mixed harvest at N Woodroff & Sons, Crowland, with 70ha of Flamingo oilseed rape yielding 2.5-3.7t/ha. “We saw our poorest yields coming from fields flooded out in the autumn,” he says.

Extase winter wheat did very well at 9.9t/ha, while Belepi ranged from 7.4-9.2t/ha. “Moisture was at 15-16%, so we had to dry a little,” he says.

Belepi, drilled in the spring, managed a reasonable 5-6.8t/ha, with specific weights at 76-78kg/hl.

Unfortunately, the 202ha of Planet spring barley had heads blown off in the wind, but it still yielded reasonably well at 6.8-7.4t/ha.

Last to cut was 100ha of Fuego spring beans, which ranged from 1.85 to 6.8t/ha and averaged 4.95t/ha.

“Our poorest yields came from beans affected by root-rot. They looked OK, so we’re hopeful they’ll meet specifications,” says Mr Woodroff.