A hard harvest is over – ignore

Mr Jackson managed to cut 255ha (630 acres) of wheat in an “unbroken run” which lasted 9 days.

His two varieties – Consort and Robigus, were yielding 9.88 t/ha (4 t/acre) after being dried from an average of 18%.

“In the middle of August things looked very worrying but in the end it came in ok.”

Mr Jackson‘s oilseed rape came off reasonably well apart from the last 10ha (25 acres) which he didn‘t get in before the rain causing it to sprout.

Because much of oilseed rape in the area failed, some farmers are having cash flow problems, asking to pay him later for any contract work Mr Jackson does for them.

He received 6 inches of rain in August, way above average. “I‘m now watching my drill in a cloud of dust. It‘s amazing how things turn around.”

If the predicted rain comes this weekend (Sept 11/12) then Mr Jackson believes it‘ll be the cut off point for drilling oilseed rape.

He is worried that if farmers do not get their fields clear of the remaining wheat, there could be problems.

“The harvest this year hasn‘t been a lot of fun, especially compared to last year when harvest was a joy.”

Despite all the troubles, Mr Jackson said he has had a very average year.