Harvest 2025: OSR yields down and wheat soon to cut in Herts

The oilseed rape harvest is done and dusted for Hertfordshire arable farmer Eveey Hunter, but with yields down on usual.

Crops looked well throughout the season at JS Hunter & Sons but yields have not reflected this, with 100ha of Hear oilseed rape averaging 2.5-3t/ha.

“Yields have not been great. We started harvest on 3 July and had 100ha to cut which is all in the shed. We were harvesting at a moisture content between 6-9%,” says Eveey.

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“We cut crops through the night to get it all done. We farm in a lot of places, so we can’t leave the kit overnight as it will likely be stolen, smashed in to or set light,” she notes.

Like many growers, Eveey was concerned with the lack of rain this season, but crops looked well considering. She suspects early drilling on 24th July and a digestate application got crops “up and away”.

It’s just the lack of rain which has limited yield potential.

Now, the harvest team await another dry weather spell to start on winter wheat which Eveey says “is very early but is ready to cut”.

Eveey and her family grow combinable crops at Pursley Farm, near St Albans.