Merseyside grower Olly Harrison was not only one of the first growers to start winter barley harvest, but is now also leading the charge to cut winter wheat, which is earning him a premium of £30/t.

He began cutting the feed variety Kerrin on 21 July, which yielded 9t/ha with a good specific weight of about 80kg/hl, while moisture levels were high at 24%. He then moved on to  harvest the variety Gleam at 22%.

See also: Video: Late start to winter barley harvest after freak storm – Farmers Weekly (fwi.co.uk)

With no rain falling for 15 days straight at Water Lane Farm, the recent heatwave pushed forward Mr Harrison’s wheat crops, prompting him to begin cutting one week ahead of usual on his light soils.

“We thought we would have a two-week gap between harvesting barley and wheat, but this turned out to be a 24-hour gap,” he says.

Good premium

By combining early, Mr Harrison says he is making the most of the good weather and early premiums, where his grain is sold to Openfield.

“We rang up to see if there was a market available and, with a £30/t premium, it is definitely worth the extra cost of drying the grain at a higher moisture content.”

In fact, Mr Harrison is currently cutting milling wheat for a neighbour, who decided to sell the crop as feed instead due to its £33/t higher premium. At the moment, milling wheat is selling at £175/t, while feed wheat will earn £208/t.

A pleasant surprise

With 60ha of wheat cut, Mr Harrison is presently surprised with yields so far and says his best fields are yet to come, with a further 465ha to go.

Wheat was planted early in the first week of September, with timely nitrogen applications promoting early crop growth. Harvest is advancing well, with some straw already baled and the remainder chopped to promote organic matter levels.