Jim Macfarlane finished harvest in the Scottish Borders last night (20 Aug), having made good progress since Sunday.

Overall, he said yields were variable. “I’m generally happy. The light land suffered from the drought in July but the heavier land did well.”

Yields had been from 7t/ha (2.8t/acre) at their lowest up to 12.5t/ha (5t/acre) from 94ha (235acres) of Alchemy, Consort and Robigus winter wheat.

“I hope the average is 10t/ha (4t/acre), which is about the farm average. Some were disappointing but they were made up by exceptional yields on other fields.”

He said all varieties had survived the past two weeks’ wet weather. “I was pleased with both the Alchemy and the Robigus. Consort always does well – it is an old variety but it hangs in there.”

Quality had been fine for distilling with only minor traces of sprouting in more recent crops.

Mr Macfarlane said wheat had come in quicker than the spring barley in the area, with most people finishing off harvest.

“People are mostly fairly well through now and really managed to cut through in the last four days. It’s very unusual to have finished so early, but yield-wise it has not done us any favours since they went off very quick.”

• Crop: Winter wheat
• Variety: Alchemy, Robigus, Consort
• Yield: Average 10t/ha
• Area: 94ha
• Quality: Good