It’s been a harvest to remember for one North Yorkshire grower whose oilseed rape yields might have trumped the current world record, while his barley yields have matched the UK’s top yield.

Steve Tuer recorded a remarkable yield of up to 7.2t/ha with his Incentive oilseed rape, with half of his 67ha crop area still to cut.

The impressive 7.2t/ha yield averaged out across 17ha of a 21ha field and has been corrected to 9% moisture and verified over a weighbridge.

See also: World record oilseed rape yield smashed in Lincolnshire

Earlier this season, Lincolnshire Wolds grower Tim Lamyman broke the world oilseed rape yield record with a crop of variety Picto which clocked up a yield of 6.7t/ha.

Elsewhere on the farm, Mr Tuer’s winter barley harvest has impressed with a 26ha block of variety Glacier yielding 12.2t/ha once corrected to 15% moisture, putting him equal with Gordon Rennie’s UK record set in 1989.

Mr Tuer told Farmers Weekly that he believes the key to his double success is down to good weather conditions and well managed soil.

“We have had a good year and it is very pleasing. I think that without a doubt the biggest factor is the weather and the interaction between the weather and my soil.

“We’re a mixed farm and keep pigs so we get a good source of nutrients by applying the manure and we also try to look after our soil structure,” he says.

The heavy land farm at Hutton Grange, Hutton Bonville, some six miles north of Northallerton, comprises 405ha of combinable crops and 600 breeding sows and fatteners. It was previously a dairy unit with high inherent soil fertility.

His rapeseed crop was drilled relatively late on 6 September at 35 seeds/sq m. Mr Tuer never drills his oilseed rape before the last week in August as he believes even conventional varieties get up and away at the beginning of the season, even if they don’t look great pre-Christmas.

The crop was grown without the use of any plant growth regulator, with the canopy and any lodging issues carefully managed using his nitrogen fertiliser regime.

He also praised his Agrovista agronomist Chris Martin, who he says has worked well with him, made some good calls during the season and discussed everything possible to push the crop forward.