Michael Manners has finished wheat harvest at Conicliffe Grange, Staindrop, Darlington, and has made a start lifting potatoes.

“It has been very stop-start, but when we got on, we got on well.” Yields were about average across all crops, he said.

“We had very little rain until this week – it was just enough to stop us combining but not enough to do the potatoes any good – it was very frustrating.”

Viscount, Oakley, Grafton, Duxford, Napier and Gallant winter wheat proved very variable, ranging from 8t/ha (3.25t/acre) to 13t/ha (5.25t/acre).

“We had some tremendous Viscount after potatoes, but wheat after oats didn’t do very well.”

Marcant high erucic acid oilseed rape averaged 4.2t/ha (1.7t/acre). “We were quite pleased with that.”

On Monday (6 September), Mr Manners started lifting Hermes potatoes for processing.

“They have been quite good, but they will be the best of the potatoes. Ground conditions are pretty good for digging, but we don’t want to get any more rain.”

Crop: Winter wheat
Varieties: Viscount, Oakley, Grafton, Duxford, Napier and Gallant
Yield: 8-13t/ha (3.25-5.25t/acre)

Crop: Oilseed rape
Variety: Marcant
Yield: 4.2t/ha (1.7t/acre)