Winter barley and oilseed rape yields have been fantastic so far at Hollygate Farm, Stragglethorpe, Nottinghamshire, but the lighter crops are still to come.

Volume winter barley, cut two weeks ago on medium loamy ground, yielded an exceptional 10.4t/ha (4.2t/acre), with a dry bushelweight of 72kg/hl, said Peter Gadd.

“For a six-row barley, we were very pleased with that.”

He cut a 2.58ha (6.4-acre) trial plot of Expower oilseed rape yesterday (24 July), which came off at 4.92t/ha (1.99t/acre) at 8.9% moisture.

“It’s the first year we’ve grown a hybrid and it’s the highest yielding piece of oilseed rape I’ve ever had. Next year we will trial Extrovert against the Expower as a base.”

Vision rapeseed, sprayed off six days later on 10 July, would not be ready until the end of this week, he added.

“It was very tempting to go into it yesterday, but there are still some green areas. Like a good many crops in our area it has been a lot slower to come to harvest condition than normal.”

Winter wheat on the light land had died off in the spring, but crops on heavier land looked encouraging, said Mr Gadd.

“But I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve done the best crops now.”

With soil type and rainfall dictating yields perhaps more than variety choice this year, farmers should consider trial results in conjunction with rainfall data, he added.

“Our local long-term weather forecaster, Terry Scholey, is predicting thunderstorms and potential hail during the second week of August, and he’s not often wrong.”

Crop: Winter barley
Variety: Volume
Area: 22ha (54 acres)
Yield: 10.4t/ha (4.2t/acre)

Crop: Oilseed rape
Variety: Expower
Area: 2.58ha (6.4 acres)
Yield: 4.92t/ha (1.99t/acre)