Evidence that 2015 is set to be a strong year for winter barley keeps coming, as Nottinghamshire foreman for JS Peake & Sons, Alastair Baseley, has seen yields peak at 11.8t/ha so far this harvest.

Mr Baseley, who share farms 500ha with eight other growers near Epperstone, 10 miles north west of Nottingham, is growing a 120ha of winter barley this year.

So far he has cut all 50ha of hybrid variety Volume with the majority of the Glacier still to do.

See also: Hampshire grower’s winter barley yield hits 11.5t/ha

He said: “We’ve had a very good year so far. The Volume started at 10.6t/ha and peaked at 11.8t/ha over 5ha of the best land coming off at 15.5% moisture.

“Overall we averaged 10.8t/ha with a bushel weight of 70.”

Rain on Friday afternoon put a halt to the combine with 8ha of the Glacier cut, averaging 10.2t/ha. Mr Baseley is hoping the conventional variety can give the hybrid’s yield a run for its money.

“I think it has probably been a good year for winter barley because we got the right amount of sun and rain when the crop needed it.”
Alastair Baseley, JS Peake & Sons

“We’ve always done very well with Glacier in past years as it has always been about the 10t/ha mark, so if it is a good year for barley, fingers crossed.”

It is the first year Mr Baseley has grown the hybrid, hoping it could provide better control of blackgrass and strong yields.

“I think it has probably been a good year for winter barley because we got the right amount of sun and rain when the crop needed it.

“We didn’t drought out when it was really hot last month because we’re on quite heavy land here,” he added.