William Cumber has got 6ha of spring oilseed rape left to cut at Manor Farm, Marcham, Oxfordshire, but is being held up by showers.

“So far, it’s yielded really well – I thought I’d be happy if it did 2t/ha but it’s close to 2.5t/ha,” he said.

Winter oilseed rape never made it through the winter, and Mr Cumber only managed to sow 30ha of the intended 180ha of winter wheat. “Soissons did 6t/ha on lightish land, but it was excellent quality at 14% protein and 380 Hagberg.”

Winter barley was uninspiring on very light land, producing just 6t/ha. “The dry summer didn’t help after the wet winter, as the roots just never got down,” he said.

“And the winter oats were absolutely pathetic – they didn’t quite make 4t/ha on light land.”

In contrast, spring barley had mostly been very good, with Waggon yielding close to 7.5t/ha and Tipple 6t/ha. “But the Tipple didn’t make malting as the nitrogen content was over 1.9%,” said Mr Cumber.

Having left 80ha of land fallow over the winter, he expected to harvest just 1200t of crops this year, compared to 2200t in a normal year.

“It was good for cash flow during the spring, but will have a reverse effect this winter when I have less to sell.”