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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

Bumper yields in Yen awards despite tough season

Winter wheat yields topped 15t/ha and oilseed rape 7t/ha for Lincolnshire Wolds grower Tim Lamyman as he won gold awards for both crops in a top-yield competition at the end…

SUGAR BEET

British Sugar sees sugar output drop more than 10%

Britain’s sugar beet harvest is set to see sugar production fall more than 10% compared with last season, due to widespread virus yellows disease and a severe spring drought. The…

HARVEST

Video: Early sugar beet yields good despite drought and virus

Early yields from the sugar beet harvest are higher than expected after a tricky growing season hit by a spring drought and aphid-spread virus yellows disease. One Suffolk farm was…

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Yields hold up as combines almost grind to halt

Graham Furey put the combine to bed at Castleview in Killyleagh, County Down, in the week ending 20 September after finishing his 100ha of combinable crops. “Spring wheat was a…

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Combines almost finished in a harvest to forget

By Melanie Jenkins and Ruth Wills   As harvest wraps up for another year, it’s evident that many farmers are looking to put it behind them and move on to…

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Northern wheat yields hold up with finish in sight

Combines are being put to bed across much of the UK, with most farmers glad to see the back of harvest 2020. See also: How to sample your grain on…

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Big ergot problem in spring wheat and barley

Cereal quality has deteriorated sharply since the rain, but combines are making good progress again, so there is an end in sight for harvest 2020 across most of the country.…

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: Grain yields show biggest fall for 20 years

Grain yields from 100 large arable farms across England were down 15% this summer, representing the biggest drop in yields seen for 20 years. This snapshot of harvest comes from…

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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BARLEY

How a Dorset spring barley grower hit highest-ever yield

Jim Farquharson grew his highest-ever yield of spring barley in one of the most difficult years for spring crops, aided by a focus on crop nutrition and canopy management. His…

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…

Latest Harvest videos

Insights

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HARVEST

Analysis: Cost of extreme weather on 2020 crop performance

The weather extremes in the hugely difficult 2019-20 cropping season provided a unique test of crop performance, with some new winter wheat varieties showing promise. From some of the wettest…

VARIETY SELECTION

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

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

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: The 5 top-yielding wheat varieties map

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

HARVEST

Harvest 2020: The 5 top-yielding OSR varieties map

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

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…