Anglesey mixed farmer Dylan Jones is making good progress harvesting his 45ha crop of winter barley for crimping and now plans to extend his rotation with an additional crop of “summer” barley.

Despite wet weather delaying combining by two weeks compared with last year, harvest commenced on the 1 July, with the winter barley variety Tardis yielding 9.8t/ha at 29% moisture.

See also: Harvest 2024: Suffolk grower dodges showers to combine OSR two weeks early

Crops have been surprisingly clean of disease, with two sprays of fungicide keeping disease at bay.

“We seem to have our own microclimate here on Anglesey. High humidity levels and lots of rain can make disease control a challenge, but this year crops have been relatively disease-free,” he says.

© Dylan Jones

Winter barley land is now set for a quick turnaround, with a spring barley and red clover “summer crop” mix being planted, allowing Dylan to cash in on an extra crop this season.

“We’ve been crimping for 20 years. It really is a no-brainer for us as it allows us to clear the fields two to three weeks earlier than conventional harvest so we can go in with a second crop.

“This gives us good quality feed for the 1,600 head of beef cattle we finish annually, with no drying fees,” says Dylan.

Harvested winter barley land is being spread with manure and ploughed-in, before sowing Planet spring barley at 125kg/ha.

Within 24 hours, a second pass of red clover planting at 15kg/ha is being made, he says.

The plan is to harvest the crop in the next eight to 10 weeks as an additional high-protein cattle feed. Zero nitrogen fertiliser applications will be made, relying on red clover and manure to kickstart the spring barley into action.

“Planting a summer crop allows us to get the most of every acre. If there’s ever a season to double crop, it’s this one – it has been really challenging with all the wet weather, so this is a good opportunity to increase forage stocks.”

Dylan’s ultimate aim is to combine the crop, although he admits whole cropping will be more likely as a September harvest date could bring more unsettled weather.

Next on the harvest to-do-list will be 90ha of spring barley, which will be ready for crimping soon after the winter barley is complete.

“I’m currently still battling on with the winter barley between the rain showers. I’ll then be heading off to the Royal Welsh Show, and after we will go straight into the spring barley,” he says.