Poor harvest expected and delivered
2 August 2001
Poor harvest expected and delivered
YIELDS on barley and oilseed rape are below average for William Ward, at Redcar near Middlesborough. “Were disappointed but knew we were in for trouble.”
Twenty hectares of Siberia feed barley yielded 6.1-7.4t/ha (2.5-3t/acre), which is -1.2t/ha (-0.5t/acre) from the average. “General saturation took the root system out.”
It was a similar story for oilseed rape. 73ha of Escort and Madrigal have been harvested. Yields vary from 1.9t/ha (0.75t/acre) to 3.5t/ha (1.45t/acre) in the best areas. The average for the area so far has been 2.5t/ha (1t/acre). They started combining some Maplas on Thursday (2 August).
The farm has a medium to heavy soil. “The land was became unworkable through autumn.” This is reflected by there being 50% spring crops on the farm, while there is usually 5%.
He says wheat should come fit by 20 August. He comments that the early drilled first wheat looks in good condition.
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