Extremely low moisture contents of 10.5% has disappointed Duncan Whiteman in Telford, Shropshire, finished cutting Camion winter barley last night (July 19). The low moisture meant specific weights were likely to be low, he said. “We never combine when it is that dry, never. But we had to.”

With the low moisture content, yields were likely to be around 6.9t/ha due to weight loss, slightly down on last year.

He was preparing to start cutting Castille oilseed rape today, which was looking fine. “We grew Castille last year and we were very pleased with it, so hopefully it should be good this year.”

In comparison, winter wheat was very dry, and would be ready two weeks earlier than usual at the beginning of August. “The wheat was just killed off rather than slowly dying off, and so we anticipate lower yields.” He hoped to get good quality on the milling wheats as millers were offering a good premium. He said Solstice was holding out well but the Robigus had gone off, he said.

“I don’t know whether Robigus has a lot less drought resistance or whether it is due to the drilling date, but it had similar treatments to the Solstice.”

• Crop: Winter Barley
• Variety: Camion
• Area: 35ha
• Yield: 6.9t/ha