Richard Solari also considered himself relatively lucky, having had only 55mm (2.2in) of rain after combining 40% of his 85ha (210 acres) of winter barley, mostly Carat.

“We had a good day-and-a-half with it coming off at 14% moisture and I was pleasantly surprised. I should think it’s not far off 3t/acre.”

Although his oilseed rape was fit, none had been cut. “Only a few farms have cut any rape around here. A few people have tried and got stuck.”

But lifting potatoes (see Arable, 6 July) continued to make a mess of the soil, he said.