Yields are proving pleasantly surprising at GB Sewell & Partners’ Harcourt Farm, Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire.

John Sewell started combining Carat winter barley on 26 June, which yielded about 5t/ha (2t/acre) at 11-14% moisture.

He had since cut another 20ha (50 acres) of Cassia, which had yielded 6.2-7.4t/ha (2.5-3t/acre), with one field exceeding 7.4t/ha (3t/acre), but other patches on sandy ground dying off.

“I’m hoping to get into some Saffron this afternoon (13 July) – that looks well, but it’s hard to know until you get into it.

“I’ve also got some Carat on heavier land, which looks good, and will be ready next week.”

After the barley, Mr Sewell had wheat, oats and peas to cut. “The oats are a bit indifferent, because they’re on some reclaimed quarry land.

“They’ve died off, and then regrown in places, so we sprayed them off today.”

The peas looked very well, with decent size pods and peas, he added. “We had 7mm of rain the day we finished drilling them, and they haven’t looked back. But they’re going off pretty quickly now.

“We’re not going to see any record yields, but at the moment harvest is looking quite pleasing, although straw yields are very indifferent.”

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Crop: Winter barley
Variety: Carat
Yield: 5t/ha (2t/acre)

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Variety: Cassia
Yield: 6.2->7.4t/ha (2.5->3t/acre)

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