Things were a little disappointing for John Wilcox near Stratford in Staffordshire.  Pearl winter barley yielded 7.5t/ha, and there was a “bonus” of plenty of straw which he sold at £45/ac.

He said the Pearl was not as good as last year due to more screenings on lighter land.

Mr Wilcox said the weather was awful, and too wet to dig potatoes. “It’s turning into the wet last year. We had a good weight then but there were still poor prices.”

He was worried about the “colossal” diesel prices, making drying costs “horrendous”.

The wheat was still standing despite heavy rain, and the later sown crops did not suffer as bad from the dry spell in early June.

• Crop/Variety: Winter barley/ Pearl


• Area: N/A


• Yield: 7.5t/ha


• Quality: High screenings