Against a backdrop of soggy fields and stationary combines, mobile seed processors have made the first assessment of barley and rape samples from this year‘s harvest.

Barleys have generally produced bold, bright samples.

With most of the barleys now cut, Pearl is still very much in a dominant position, however Carat and Pict are showing well amongst the other varieties selected for seed by growers.

Oilseed rape has produced a much more variable result, with good samples emerging from the west of England but some poor quality crops coming from East Anglia, where establishment in last autumn‘s dry seed beds was particularly difficult, resulting in heavy weed growth filling gaps in the crop following the midsummer rains.

In consequence, seed lots have required careful cleaning with gravity separators to remove large quantities of cleavers and charlock in particular.

Wheat that was combined early has been of excellent quality, but hopes are not high for the remainder of the crop which still languishes in sodden fields, and growers can expect badly weathered samples with Hagbergs set to deteriorate rapidly.

Working in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, Nigel Day of Anglia Grain Services reports variable rape yields.

“Because the crop was gappy, the wet weather in June and early July has allowed heavy weed growth, and this underlines the importance of having seed professionally cleaned,” he comments.

Winner is still the dominant variety for farm saved seed, but Expert and Tequila are also popular, whilst making a come-back is the stiff-strawed Apex, which has stood well and has caught the eye of several growers.

Nigel reports bold, bright barley samples, with low nitrogens and low screenings.

He adds that less than 10% of wheats have been cut in Essex and south Suffolk, and that the quality of the remaining crop is now suffering from the weather.

“Even so, NAAC mobiles, unlike most static plants, have gravity separators which will remove any sprouted or shrivelled grains from poorer quality samples. Farm saving is still the farmer‘s best option,” says Nigel.

In Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamtonshire and Warwickshire the barley harvest has been very good, says Tim Rogers of TV & JA Rogers, with Pearl producing both quality and yield amongst the 2 row varieties and Sequel showing well amongst the 6 row crops.

Rape, however, is more variable, with the earlier crops proving disappointing and requiring careful cleaning. Later crops, however, have been better.

The few samples of wheat that have been processed so far have been quite good, though Hagbergs will now be suffering.

In the East Midlands, barleys have been very good, with many growers achieving 3 or more tons to the acre, comments Charles Roberts of CYO Seeds (Midlands).

There is very little shrivelled grain, and both Pearl and Pict have produced clean, bold samples.

Charles also feels that most rape growers in the area have come off better than expected after early worries about lack of pod set, and though some crops have been knocked about, the screenings are generally low.

Even though Winner has probably not reached its full potential, it is still definitely the leader, though quite a bit of Expert is expected to be drilled in the coming season.

Very little wheat has yet been cut, however, and the mood of growers is reported as being “very solemn”.

The biggest implications will be for the milling wheats, where the weather is expected to have a huge effect on Hagbergs, says Charles.

Bill Eaton of CYO Seeds, operating in the South Midlands, Surrey and Sussex, is hard at work on this year’s rape crops, and expects the rape acreage to increase considerably next year at the expense of barley.

He reports that only around 20% of the wheat crop has been harvested so far and the Hereward and Soissons that he has seen has been disappointing, with shrivelled grains pre-germinated in the ear.

Some sooty mould is present and Hagbergs are well down, with a lot of screenings needing to come off in order to make an acceptable sample.

With all the barley now cut in Wiltshire and Somerset, Angela Steel of CYO Seeds (West) has seen some bold, heavy samples of Pearl, Carat and Pict. Rape, however, has been of much more variable quality owing to poor establishment last autumn.

Heavy screenings of cleavers and volunteer cereals are the order of the day, and Angela has so far undertaken several bulk cleaning jobs for resale.

Even so, germination tests on rape have shown good results.

Bushel weights of wheat processed so far – mostly Soissons and Claire – have been good. However, little more than 20% has been cut so far.

Barley yields are better than expected in Staffordshire, says Dick Bowler of ReSo Seeds, who has also processed some good crops of oats.

However, he is noticing a steady decrease in 6 row barleys, and reports that the morale of growers is being noticeably affected by poor prices, the uncertainty of the Mid Term Review and of course the adverse weather.

Rape yields have not been affected by poor establishment as badly as those in the eastern counties, and Winner continues to be the first choice of most growers.

Dick estimates that only about 30% of the wheat is cut so far, and it is too early to make any judgement about quality.

However, as harvest drags on, he advises that seed processors will need plenty of time on the farm to produce the best possible samples.

“It takes much longer to process grain that has been badly weathered, and our time will be cut out if we are to get everything cleaned and processed before it is required for drilling.”

No wheat is down at all and only 15% of the winter rape is cut in Fife and the East of Scotland according to Steven Wade of SAS, although the majority of the barley has been harvested in Tayside.

Winter barleys processed so far have been of good quality, with Intro, Manitou and Angela all producing good samples.

However, much of the rape is now at risk, warns Steven, and it is becoming difficult to see how the swathed rape is going to get dry enough for the combine before it germinates.

“It‘s a sorry situation,” comments Steven. Even so, the wheat is not sufficiently far advanced to be in any serious danger at present.