Wiltshire farmer Richard Butler was “reasonably pleased” with his Pearl malting barley which averaged 6.7 – 6.8t/ha. “We’re hoping it will make malting but are awaiting the final samples. There’s some indication there are high Ns in the south because of the dry April and early May.”

Mr Butler was now combining oilseed rape but said it was a bit too early to tell how good yields were.

“We’re cutting at 9% and trying to catch it before it’s over ripe.”

All the wheat on the farm was first wheat, Mr Butler confirmed. “We’ve not seen severe premature ripening but the hot weather has undoubtedly brought forward the harvest date. I think the gain from strobilurins will be very limited in terms of green leaf [benefit]. Some crops just switched off, but we’re reasonably confident about yield.”

• Crop: Winter barley
• Variety: Pearl
• Area: N/A
• Yield: 6.7 – 6.8t/ha