Hugh Farren was pleased to have finished his 35ha of Winner oilseed rape at Markensieod Hall, Ripon.  “We just managed to sneak it in before we lost too much,” he said.

The crop went ok, coming in at 12% moisture. He dried it down for a short while, but then left it to dry naturally to save costs, which he hoped would make up for lower yields.

Mr Farren had also nearly finished 40ha Carat winter barley at 14% moisture and was waiting for the field to dry before he could get to the last few hectares. He said grain quality looked good and was happy it yielded 8.15t/ha (3.3 t/acre) on average.

Mr Farren had 110ha of Robigus and Einstein winter wheat to harvest and despite some lodging he said it looked ok. He planned to desiccate with Roundup (glyphosate) tomorrow and he hoped to begin cutting within 10-14 days. “The straws are greener than the grains,” he noted.

Mr Farren said wet ground conditions had been most problematic on his heavy clay soils, and said no field had been completely finished. He thought soil compaction could be a problem next year and said some remedial work might be needed.

Overall harvest progress was back on track, “The harvest hasn’t been as good as last years and it looked like a total washout two to three weeks ago, but it’s turned out ok and prices have made stuff look a lot better.”

Completed harvest
• Crop: Oilseed rape
• Variety: Winner
• Area: 35ha
• Moisture content: 7%

• Crop: Winter barley
• Variety: Carat
• Area: 40ha
• Moisture content: 14%
• Yield: 8.15t/ha