Harvest progress is behind schedule for many growers around the country with recent rains stopping combining, although yields are still high with few reports of damage to crops.

In the Scottish Borders, harvest is running a week behind normal for Jim Macfarlane at Edrington Mains Farm, Edrington, near Berwick-upon-Tweed.

See also: Early winter wheat yields up 3%, spring barley nearly 13%

“I am about half way through the Anastasia oilseed rape crop at the moment, which has exceeded 5t/ha so I have been very pleased with it,” he says.

Talisman winter barley has yielded 8.9t/ha which he was slightly disappointed with but the malting quality was fine. Odyssey spring malting barley was about a week away from being ready.

Mr Macfarlane also had Leeds, Tuxedo and Myriad wheat left to combine, which were 10 days or more away from being ready.

“The sun is shining but there is still a long way to go,” he says.

Morayshire

Further north, the wet weather has meant Frank Thomson from Burnside of Tynet Farm, Buckie, Morayshire, has only just started combining.

“Oilseed rape has done very well to date, yielding well over 5t/ha. The top yielder was Exentiel, at just over 6t/ha so I am very pleased with that as it has done better than expected,” he says.

Winter barley had also done well with Tower yielding 9.2t/ha. The six-row variety Volume yielded slightly higher but the quality was not as good.

Concerto spring barley was looking good in the field while the winter wheat was still more than two weeks away from being ready.

“Patience is required with farming, but if we get the weather it will come right,” says Mr Thompson.

Monmouthshire

In Wales, rain has brought harvest to a halt for contractor Stuart Andrews of Glen Court Farm, Usk, Monmouthshire, with about 110ha of wheat and spring barley left to cut.

“Patience is required with farming, but if we get the weather it will come right”
Frank Thomson, Morayshire grower

“There is lots to do but it is too wet to even plough or muckspread, so I am inside doing paperwork,” he says.

All of the oilseed rape and winter barley crops have been cut, but only one field of wheat had come off, yielding about 7.4t/ha.

Mr Andrews has cut two fields of Quench spring barley which were planted in early February and have yielded 8.64t/ha.

Bedfordshire

In Bedfordshire, the wheat harvest has delivered excellent quality and yields for Andrew Robinson, farm manager at Heathcote Farms, Toddington.

The variety Skyfall averaged 13.53t/ha, with one field achieving 14.54t/ha. Grain quality was excellent with a Hagberg of 333, specific weight of 83kg/hl and a protein content of 14.1%.

“It was the best-looking variety both going into and coming out of the winter, and we will certainly be growing it again,” said Mr Robinson.

Other wheats this season include Gallant, which averaged 12.72t/ha, and Leeds which is doing 12.61t/ha.

Sunderland

Further north, rain had caused delays to combining but has not damaged any crops according to Dave Young of Grainco near Sunderland.

“Weather is hampering progress but yields have been excellent,” he says.

The oilseed rape harvest was about 75% complete with yields averaging 5t/ha. Winter barley yields had been excellent with many more than 10t/ha.

“The hybrid variety Volume had done extremely well but the two row varieties Tower and Glacier were not far behind and had produced better quality,” says Mr Young.

He adds that the season has been very stop and start and at the moment there is a real lack of progress but the high yields mean stores are already getting full.