Richard Bruckshaw finished combining wheat at High Ercall, Telford, Shrops, on Saturday (13 September).

“Yields were fantastic – we had to concrete new sheds halfway through for extra space,” he said.

Oakley had performed slightly better than the Alchemy, but overall yields were well above average at over 8.6t/ha (3.5t/acre).

The spring barley also did well, all making the grade for malting, he said.

“I’m just finishing drilling rape now. We just need to dry all the wheat down from 21% moisture now.”

Just down the road, Sandy Walker had been on combining all weekend and was on again today (15 September) at Ercall Park Farm.

“Travelling is a real problem – it is very wet,” he said.

Mr Walker still had 182ha (450 acres) of wheat to combine, but it wasn’t looking too bad. “Some of it is sprouting, but it will be alright,” he said.

Crop: Winter Wheat
Varieties: Oakley and Alchemy
Area: 100ha (250 acres)
Yield: >8.6t/ha (3.5t/acre)

Crop: Spring barley
Varieties: Tipple and Quench
Area: 40ha (100 acres)
Yield: > average

Crop: Oilseed rape
Variety: Excalibur
Area: 40ha (100 acres)
Yield: 4t/ha (1.6t/acre)