Spring barley quality suffers after rain
Tom Coleman has managed to combine one lap of his first wheat field at Lower Norton Farm, Winchester, Hampshire, before being rained off again.
“We’ve just finished the spring barley and have managed two loads of wheat before it rained,” he said. “It’s very frustrating.”
However, early yield indications were good, about over 10t/ha (4t/acre). “Hopefully that will continue.”
Spring barley had yielded amazingly well, given the dry season, with Tipple and Quench averaging over 7.4t/ha (3t/acre).
“But malting quality is variable; we’ve got some problems with split and skinned grains.”
Oilseed rape had massively exceeded Mr Coleman’s budgeted yield of 3.4-3.7t/ha (1.4-1.5t/acre), with Cabernet and Sesame yielding 4.4-4.7t/ha (1.8-1.9t/acre), and Vision topping at almost 5t/ha (2t/acre).
“So far, yields have been pretty good; all we need now is a good run of weather.”
Crop: Spring barley
Varieties: Tipple and Quench
Yield: >7.4t/ha (3t/acre)
Crop: Oilseed rape
Varieties: Cabernet, Sesame and Vision
Yield: 4.4-t/ha (1.8-2t/acre)
