Just baling left for Andrew

Andrew Craig finished harvest at Westwood Farm, near Telford, Shrops, a week ago (22 September) and is just finishing off the last of the baling.

“The past fortnight has been a Godsend,” he said. “It’s dried up remarkably well and we’re now flat out drilling.”

Mr Craig had drilled all his rape apart from 32ha (80 acres) of high ground which was too wet. Another 16ha (40 acres) had to be redrilled after it was flooded.

Wheat combined before the rain had yielded very well at over 10.6t/ha (4.3t/acre), including second and continuous wheats.

But after the rain yields fell to as low as 8.6t/ha (3.5t/acre), bringing the overall average down to 10t/ha (4t/acre). “We probably lost 1.2t/ha (0.5t/acre) on the last 20ha (50 acres).

The last of the wheat came in at 14% moisture, so Mr Craig only had a little bit of wheat left to dry. Most people in the area had now finished harvest, he said. 

Crop: Winter wheat
Varieties: Alchemy, Robigus, Einstein, Battalion and Humber
Area: 364ha (900 acres)
Yield: 10t/ha (4t/acre)

Crop: Winter barley
Varieties: Carat and Saffron
Area: 53ha (130 acres)
Yield: 9.4t/ha (3.8t/acre)

Crop: Oilseed rape
Variety: Castille
Area: 134ha (330 acres)
Yield: 3.8t/ha (1.55t/acre)