Harvest is progressing well at JV Farming Ltd in Dorset, with a new combine helping to race through the oilseed rape and barley.

“The Claas Lexion 600 Terra Trac has a 35′ header that will hopefully cope better with the 1550ha (3830 acres) it has to cover, a lot of which is at quite an angle,” said Nick Finding. “It also has the Outback GPS system which allows the driver a bit more time to see what’s going through the header as he doesn’t have to steer it.”

JV Farming had cut 120ha (296 acres) of the 380ha (939 acres) of Castille oilseed rape, averaging almost 4t/ha (1.6t/acre) dry over the weighbrige. “That is better than last year,” said Mr Finding.

He was also pleased with the 146ha (360 acres) of Flagon winter barley, which ranged from 7.4 – 9.3t/ha (3-3.8t/acre) and averaged 8.3t/ha (3.3t/acre). “It has allegedly passed for malting which is very pleasing as it’s our first time with winter malting, and is about 0.8t/ha (0.3t/acre) over budget.”

Crop: Oilseed rape
Variety: Castille
Area: 120ha (296 acres)
Yield: 4t/ha (1.6t/acre)

Crop: Winter barley
Variety: Flagon
Area: 146ha (360 acres)
Yield: 8.3t/ha (3.3t/acre)