David Butler is pleased with harvest and well on track at East Wick Farm, Wootton Rivers, Marlborough, Wiltshire, with only a few crops left to cut.

“We’re just finishing the winter wheat harvest and we’ve seen some very respectable yields,” he said.

The Horatio and Panorama yielded between 7.4t and 9.9t/ha, coming off at 16-17% moisture. Solstice was the most disappointing variety, reaching 8.1t/ha at best.

“The best of the crops were on the free draining soils, and quality was excellent all round,” said Mr Butler.

Straw quality was also excellent, with higher yields than expected, making it the best in a number of years. 

Tipple and Concerto spring barley yielded a reasonable average of 6.3t/ha, coming off at 15% moisture.

“We planted spring barley as we couldn’t get the winter barley in,” said Mr Butler. “Although yields have been higher in the past, the crop was okay and hit malting quality.”

The PR46W21 and Sesame winter oilseed rape yielded between 3.1t and 4.9t/ha. “It wasn’t our crop of the year, but some of it has been pretty good.”

The 28ha of spring beans were still waiting to be harvested, although they looked superb and Mr Butler planned to cut them by the weekend.

“We’ve had to bring in extra combines and cultivators to catch up with everything as the crops were ready at the same time, but we’re back on track now,” he added. 

“2013 has certainly not been a vintage year for us following the wet and cold start we had, but it’s a year we can look back on with some good memories.”

Crop: Winter wheat
Varieties:  Solstice, Horatio and Panorama
Area: 364ha
Yield: 7.4-9.9t/ha

Crop: Spring barley
Varieties:  Tipple and Concerto
Area: 162ha
Yield: 6.3t/ha

Crop: Winter oilseed rape
Varieties:  PR46W21 and Sesame
Yield: 3.1-4.9t/ha.