Surprising yields, but behind schedule

29 August 2001



‘Surprising yields, but behind schedule’

Harvest is behind schedule in Cornwall, according to Matthew Dale, who farms with his brother Paul at Restronguet Farm, Falmouth in Cornwall.

“The weather has been patchy, but weve made some headway in the last few days.”

They have been combining some April drilled spring barley. Chariot has yielded 5t/ha (2t/acre), which is below the 6.8t/ha (2.75t/acre) average. It may go for malting on a ship from Truro.

“Considering it was drilled in the second week of April, thats pretty good. It became very dry after it was drilled. There was also a reasonable amount of straw also. The bushel weight was good between 67-70Kg/hl.”

November drilled Claire yielded 10t/acre (4t/ha). “2 acres of January drilled Claire yielded 3t/acre (7.4t/acre), despite looking awful all winter. There was a good straw yield, but the bushel was a little low at 72-73Kg/hl.”

With the forecast set to change, he is considering moving into some Paragon spring wheat today (Monday), to safeguard the quality, as he hopes it will make milling grade. He still has 32ha (80 acres) of spring wheat, 26ha (65 acres) of winter wheat, 20ha (50 acres) of spring barley and 40ha (100 acres) of spring beans.

“Ive been pleasantly surprised with yields, even though I did not expect a lot from the late drilled crops.”

To post your Harvest Highlights, click here