Justin Blackwood had finished harvest on his own farm in Northamptonshire, but still had wheat to cut on some of the larger farms he consults for.

Wheat yields had been very good this year, with most coming in close to 10t/ha (4t/acre).

“Some yields were exceptional but they were up to the farm average. It’s good because we expected lower yields due to the drought.”

Xi19 and Alchemy performed “exceptionally well” and Claire did quite well. Milling wheat Hagbergs all came in at 200-300, and protein of Malacca was at 13%. Hagbergs for Xi19 were 250-300 but he said there was a small protein problem at 12.5-13%. “We were going to stop growing Xi19 but we’ll probably stick with it now.”

He said although Robigus had yielded well it was not up to what was expected. “It had smaller than average grain. It may have had a small amount of eye-spot, but it was later so was caught by the drought.”

He planned to stick with growing Robigus, Alchemy and a small acreage of Claire next year.

Mr Blackwood said 95% of remaining wheat was still standing, but there was heavy chitting where it was laid.

“A couple of farms have a small acreage of Robigus left. I think the bushel weights are going, but hopefully we should have them all cut in a few days.”

Beans had been quite poor this year which he said was due to the drought in June and July, with yields at about 3t/ha (1.2t/acre). He also said spring barley suffered from the very hot July and the crops did not gain enough height when growing.

Ninety percent of oilseed rape had been drilled with much of it now showing two small leaves.

“Growing has started and a lot of it is up now. The danger is for any oilseed rape drilled now because the forecast is very hot for next week.”

• Crop: Winter wheat
• Variety: Xi19, Malacca, Alchemy, Robigus, Claire
• Area: 2400ha in total
• Yield: 10t/ha
• Quality: Milling wheat 200-300 Hagbergs, Malacca 13% protein, Xi19 protein 12.5-13%