The prolonged spell of unseasonal wet weather is causing concern among arable farmers about how long they can hold on to milling wheat premiums.

Wheat crop quality is starting to suffer and growers in many regions are concerned they will struggle to meet full milling wheat specification and secure a decent premium.

See also: Harvest 2023: Winter barley harvest yields average, OSR poor

Farm manager Edward Vipond, who farms 1,400ha at Troston Farms in Stanton, Suffolk, said like many other growers he was experiencing a “smash and grab” harvest campaign due to very catchy weather.

He said many of his crops really needed to be harvested, but he was not panicking yet, with drier weather forecast from the end of next week.

“We have been used to early harvests in recent years, but it’s still early August,” he stressed.

Asked about his main concern over the delayed harvest, Mr Vipond said: “We have still got a lot of milling wheat out there waiting to be cut.

“If the wet weather patterns continue, how long will milling wheat proteins and Hagbergs hold up? How long will the quality continue?”

Mr Vipond said milling wheat premiums are very good at the moment ­(around £60/t), as are malting premiums.

But he added: “If you want a premium, you may have to cut your wheat early to secure it.”

Harvesting priority

Jock Willmott, a partner and agronomist at Ceres Rural, said his arable farming clients in Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Warwickshire had prioritised harvesting milling wheat over other crops in the past week during any dry-weather windows.

“We have probably only had about two to three days of cutting wheat,” said Mr Willmott on Wednesday (2 August).

“Out of the three main varieties – Zyatt, Skyfall and Crusoe – we have generally not seen too many low Hagbergs. Zyatt is probably 30 to 40 points below the others.”

Mr Willmott said bushel weights were between 72-78kg/hl, but not in the 80s like last year.

Crop quality is “as good as you would expect” considering the difficult growing season, but there had been some good yields, he added.

The Met Office forecast predicts the changeable weather will continue across the UK before more settled weather returns towards the end of next week.