Andrew Robinson is getting on extremely well with harvest at Heathcote Farm, Toddington, Bedfordshire, with just 35% of his crops left to cut.

“It’s going really well – we cut 103ha of Gallant wheat at 11.31t/ha over the weighbridge, and we’re cutting some Viscount now,” he said. “That did 11.30t in the first field and 11.29t/ha in the second, which is very consistent.”

Milling quality had also been excellent, with the Gallant testing at over 14% protein, with 370 Hagberg and a bushel weight of 81.2kg/hl, said Mr Robinson.

“We’re on heavy loam with some light land patches – yields are down a long way on the light land, so it’s the heavy land that’s holding it all up.”

Oilseed rape had performed well, considering the growing conditions, with 360ha of Extrovert, Expower and Alienor averaging 4.14t/ha. “The Extrovert was by far the best variety,” he said.

But Winsome winter barley was very disappointing, producing just 5.9t/ha.

“We’ve got another 300ha of wheat and 100ha of spring beans left to cut – we had some rain on Saturday but cut some Viscount between the showers to clear the land for oilseed rape,” he added.

“It’s down to 17.1% moisture this morning (19 August), and it’s a beautiful sunny day with a good breeze, so it’s drying all the time.”

Crop: Winter wheat
Variety: Gallant
Area: 103ha
Yield: 11.31t/ha

Variety: Viscount
Yield: 11.3t/ha

Crop: Oilseed rape
Varieties: Extrovert, Expower and Alienor
Area: 360ha
Yield: 4.14t/ha

Crop: Winter barley
Variety: Winsome
Area: 54ha
Yield: 5.9t/ha