The weekend’s rain has slowed things down for Dorset farmer Nick Harding.

Saturday (29 July) was a total washout and today (31 July) will be hit and miss with the showers but Mr Harding is still after more rain.

Despite the interruptions harvest is progressing well with only spring barley left to combine.

The farm’s winter barley and oilseed rape have performed as expected with yields of 3-3.5t/acre for both Spectrum and Pearl barley and 1.5t/acre for Castille and Pollen rape.

The spring barley is looking promising with a predicted yield of 2.5t/acre.

• Crop: Winter barley
• Variety: Spectrum
• Area: 60ha
• Yield: 3.5t/acre

• Crop: Winter barley
• Variety: Pearl
• Area: 20ha
• Yield: 3t/acre

• Crop: Oilseed rape
• Variety: Castille
• Area: 9ha
• Yield: 1.5t/acre

• Crop: Oilseed rape
• Variety: Pollen
• Area: 60ha
• Yield: 1.5t/acre

Author: Stuart Ames