Harvest kicked off this week for a Hertfordshire farm, with oilseed rape yielding close to the family business’s five-year average.

With regular rain showers for the past few days, the weather managed to stay dry enough for Eveey Hunter of JS Hunter & Sons to cut 20ha of the hybrid variety Excited, which yielded 3.33t/ha at 12-13% moisture.

This is close to the five year on-farm average of 3.5t/ha.

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Eveey is happy with the yield and seed quality, but noted that the thick stalks were still green at the bottom, where the glyphosate desiccant had not fully killed off the plants.

© Eveey Hunter

The Dekalb hybrid variety was drilled early in July last year, using a Horsch Avatar disc direct drill, and it was the first outing for the farm’s new John Deere X9 combine. The X9 is John Deere’s flagship 100t/hour rotary combine.

The 1,400ha farm has 150ha of oilseed rape, after 20-30ha was lost to flea beetle in the autumn. The failed area was sprayed off and replanted with spring oats, which have come well.

A less dense crop of oilseed rape is being cut next, and Eveey is hoping to harvest the winter barley over the weekend, weather permitting.

Eveey and her family grow combinable crops including winter wheat, winter barley and oilseed rape, at Pursley Farm, near St Albans.