“Things have been very disappointing,” said Joss Stratton in Wiltshire after cutting 270ha of barley.

The Pict came out at 7.5t/ha which was “much lower than expected”, and down on the 8.5t/ha from last year.

He said: “It looked like it would yield much higher, so it was disappointing for us.”

The 61kg/hl was “very light”, but he was happy with the amount of straw.

“The rest of the crops are looking promising at the moment,” he added.