Harvest at James Fuggle’s Chessons Farm, Wadhurst, Sussex, has ground to a halt after heavy thunderstorms stopped play last night.

Mr Fuggle was combining his winter oats yesterday (29 July), which were yielding a pleasing 7.3t/ha (3t/acre). “They were fantastic – they came of at 11% moisture and 66kg/hl,” he said.

Before the oats he had cut some good Pearl winter barley and some very disappointing Retriever barley, which went very flat with low bushelweight grains. “We might have been lucky to do 6.2t/ha (2.5t/acre).”

Oilseed rape was also mixed, with the Castille proving difficult to combine and yielding just 2.9t/ha (1.2t/acre). The Astrid, however, was easy to cut, dry, and yielded almost 3.6t/ha (1.5t/acre).

Crop: Winter oats
Yield: 7.3t/ha (3t/acre)

Crop: Winter barley
Variety: Retriever
Yield: 6.2t/ha (2.5t/acre)

Crop: Oilseed rape
Variety: Castille
Yield: 2.9t/ha (1.2t/acre)

Crop: Oilseed rape
Variety: Astrid
Yield: 3.6t/ha (1.5t/acre)