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Know How / Harvest

Harvest is the busiest time of year for arable farmers. Get ready for harvest with advice on hiring harvest workers, maintaining combines and harvest kit and preparing grain stores and crop storage. Keep-up-to date with harvest progress around the country and get the yield results as they come in. 

Latest harvest news

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HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Spring malting barley crops look good south of M4

Early spring malting barley crops are showing good yields and quality across southern England, helped by April and May rainfall, while other crops into East Anglia have suffered from the…

OILSEED RAPE

Harvest 2020: Yields dip as 56% winter barley and 49% OSR cut

Yields of winter barley and oilseed rape crops harvested in the south and east of Britain show yields below long-term averages and also at very variable levels as about half…

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: OSR yields down but optimism for wheat

Oilseed rape yields are showing the damage from cabbage stem flea beetle infestations earlier in the season, but as the combines move into winter wheat there is optimism for better…

HARVEST

Video: Another wheat harvest falls victim to poor season

Essex grower Tom Bradshaw is seeing his winter wheat yields 2t/ha lower than he normally expects as the wet winter and spring drought have cut grain output. As his two…

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Yields are down for barley, OSR and wheat

Harvest has begun to move across more of the country and into North Yorkshire, with highly variable yields reflecting differences in weather seen across the UK this season. Kent In…

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Wheat quality looks good as yields slide

Wheat quality looks good from early harvested milling crops, with yields generally lower than 2019 as growers start to cut the smallest wheat area for more than 40 years. After…

HARVEST AND CROP STORAGE

Harvest 2020: Variable yields with disaster on light land

Yield variability appears the main theme of harvest this week, as farmers in England get stuck into barley and oilseed rape crops, with some malting barley crops failing to meet…

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Winter barley down nearly 1t/ha in AHDB plots

The first results from the AHDB variety trials are showing winter barley yields are down nearly 1t/ha on the five-year mean. Results from four sites spanning Yorkshire to Hampshire are…

Harvest must reads

Practical advice

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DISEASE MANAGEMENT

How to prepare for ergot limits in cereals for harvest 2021

Growers need to prepare for new regulations covering maximum limits on ergot in cereals, to avoid loads being rejected by millers and merchants from harvest 2021 onwards.  The current 0.05%…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Get ready for harvest: How to carry out a safety induction

Farmers who take on staff to help them over the harvest period should make sure all workers are given a clear health and safety briefing before they start work. It…

POTATOES

5 tips on effective use of maleic hydrazide in potatoes

Good application is essential in getting the most from maleic hydrazide, which AHDB trials have shown to be a useful, cost-effective tool for controlling early dormancy break in potatoes. This…

POTATOES

Video: Top tips for successful potato flailing

Mechanically flailing potato haulms to remove the majority of the biomass not only slows down tuber bulking, it can also speed up the desiccation process by as much as 25%.…

POTATOES

What potato growers need to consider before diquat ban

This is the last season that potato growers can use the broad-spectrum herbicide diquat to desiccate their potato crops, therefore, growers are being urged to look at alternatives this summer.…

BUSINESS

Business Clinic: Insurance tips for student harvest help

Whether it’s a legal, tax, insurance, management or land issue, Farmers Weekly’s experts can help. Here, Paige Dalby of insurance broker Farmers and Mercantile explains what checks to make when…

Case studies

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OILSEED RAPE

OSR Masters: Growers make a good start to new season

Drilling dates have varied by five weeks and costs are being kept low as our Oilseed Rape Masters get this season’s crops up and away. Adam Driver, Driver Farms, Brockley,…

BARLEY

Barley grower sees winter crop come up trumps

Malting barley grower Andy Roberts’ strategy of growing both winter and spring crops paid a dividend this summer as good quality from the former made up for a more problematic…

HARVEST

Video: Farmer shares lessons learnt fighting huge crop fire

Since the early start to harvest at the beginning of July, Twitter has been awash with reports of crop fires across the country, exacerbated by tinder-dry conditions. As the hot,…

PULSES

How winter bean grower in Yorkshire achieved top yields

A perfect bean-growing year produced a record yield for one East Yorkshire grower and a good enough sample for human consumption to win a prestigious quality award. Robin Smyth grew…

ARABLE

Video: Hands Free Hectare - what next for the farming robots?

Excitement, pride, trepidation – just some of the feelings buzzing around a perfectly square hectare field in Shropshire as a driverless combine took its first bite of a crop that…

HARVEST

Lincs grower sets sights on 2018 wheat yield record attempt

Lincolnshire Wolds grower Tim Lamyman is planning to drill his winter wheat earlier this autumn in his quest to break the world wheat yield record, after falling short this summer.…

Latest Harvest videos

Insights

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HARVEST

Harvest 2020: The 5 top-yielding winter barley varieties map

Throughout the harvest season, we are updating our handy map with the latest data from 2020’s AHDB winter barley Recommended List harvest results. Use the map below to find the…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Apps help lone workers stay safe on the farm

A Norfolk potato adviser who had to crawl for help after shattering his skull in a 9m fall is emphasising the need to stay safe when working alone on the…

HARVEST

Harvest verdict: Barley is the winner in mixed season

The 2019 harvest started in ideal dry conditions with winter barley growers reporting bumper crops coming off with good quality, some were even seeing yields well into double digits.    But…

MAIZE

Rain puts pressure on maize with tricky harvest

Prolonged rain has made maize harvesting difficult in recent days, with some suffering with flooding and high rainfall. Maize maturity has already been slowed by rain as green plants have…

POTATOES

How extreme weather has hit UK and European potato yields

Potato yields are looking better in the UK than elsewhere in north-west Europe, where it is still too dry to lift crops.  The potato crop is forecast to be 3%…

HARVEST

Harvest 2019: The 5 top-yielding spring barley varieties map

Throughout the harvest season, we are updating our handy map with the latest data from 2019’s AHDB spring barley Recommended List harvest results. Use the map below to find the…

POTATOES

Why non-flail potato desiccation is still an option post-diquat

While the loss of diquat is a setback for potato growers, there are still viable chemical options for destroying potato haulm, according to early results from this season’s AHDB desiccation…

POTATOES

Potato contractor finds the best tractor for flailing success

Lincolnshire potato contractor David Matthews expects potato haulms to have a high biomass at burndown time, thanks to this year’s growing season, and says growers will need a lot of…

VARIETY SELECTION

Harvest 2019: The 5 top-yielding winter oilseed rape varieties

Throughout the harvest season, we are updating our handy map with the latest data from 2019’s AHDB winter oilseed rape Recommended List harvest results. Use the map below to find…

HARVEST

Harvest 2019: The 5 top-yielding winter barley varieties map

Throughout the harvest season, we are updating our handy map with the latest data from 2019’s AHDB winter barley Recommended List harvest results. Use the map below to find the…

HARVEST

Two diquat alternatives trialled in linseed

Two alternatives to diquat for desiccating linseed crops are currently being trialled, with the aim of being available to growers for harvest 2020. Linseed growers currently only have two options…