Harvest 2023: Only 5% of wheat and spring barley cut
Extase wheat being combined in Northamptonshire by Claas Lexion 750 © Lewis Porter (Harvest 2023 photo gallery)
Just 5% of the winter wheat and spring barley crop in Britain has been cut in a delayed wet weather harvest, although these figures will have risen sharply after a dry spell in the second half of last week.
In the AHDB’s second harvest progress report, covering the period up to Tuesday August 8, 94% of the winter barley crop has been cut and 76% of the oilseed rape harvest completed, and across all crops yields and quality have been variable.
Again, these figures will have risen due to good dry harvesting weather since August 8.
See also:Â Harvest 2023: Only 21% of oilseed rape cut and with poor yields
Winter wheat  Â
Early indications are that winter wheat yields are good, and close to the five-year average. On-farm yields show a wide range of 6.2-13t/ha, whilst stripping out the highest and lowest outliers then the vast majority of yields are in a tighter range of 7.8-8.4t/ha.
On quality, specific weights are ranging 74-78kg/hl, while there is little data on hagberg and protein levels. The average moisture is about 16.8%.
Winter barley
On-farm yields range 5-12t/ha, while most are on a par with the five-year average at 6.8-7.2t/ha. On quality, specific weights are variable with an on-farm average 58-64kg/hl.
Screenings are low at 2-4%. Early grain nitrogen contents for malting varieties range 1.5-1.7%. The average moisture content is presently 15-17%.
Spring barley
On-farm yields range 5-9t/ha with the majority of crops harvested in a tighter range of 5.2–5.8t/ha from the low number of crops cut. Generally, specific weights and nitrogen content are acceptable. Moisture content is averaging 14-18%.
Winter oilseed rape
Generally, yields are poor, with on-farm yields at 1.3-4.8t/ha, and most crops cut are in a narrower 2.7-3t/ha range. Lower yields have largely been due to inclement weather, pigeon and pest damage, and smaller seed sizes due to high temperatures in early June.
On quality, oil content averages 43-45%, and 42-46% on-farm. Moisture contents range 8-20%, with a few reports of up to 25%.
Oats
Only 5% of the British oat area has been harvested, with on-farm yields at 4-7t/ha with the majority of crops harvested in a 4.9-5.5t/ha range.
On quality, specific weights are generally acceptable on low sample volumes, and moisture levels are 16-18%.
The report was produced by AHDB with data collected by Adas.
