Hampshire grower Nigel Pond’s winter wheat has produced an impressive 12t/ha-plus yield, although the milling wheat he grows came well short of breadmaking standards and will likely go as feed wheat.

All his winter wheat area is down to the milling variety Crusoe, and the yield is above his medium-term average of 11.5-12.0t/ha. However, his grain protein of 10.7% fell short of the usual milling industry standard of 13%.

“We are very pleased with the yield, but the nitrogen seems to have been taken up to produce yield and has not gone to boost protein in the ear,” he tells Farmers Weekly.

See also: Harvest over in record-breaking finish for Norfolk grower

The last nitrogen fertiliser application was in early May, and he believed there was enough moisture to wash the solid nitrogen into the soil.

The crop came in at an impressive specific weight of 82kg/hl, well above the milling standard of 76kg/hl, with Hagberg well above the industry standard of 250.

(Left to right) George Herridge, Nigel Pond and Simon Linstead © MAG/David Jones

Crusoe milling wheat

Mr Pond grows 112ha of Crusoe on chalk loam soil at his 372ha Dene Farm, Nether Wallop, just south of Andover, and finished his wheat harvest on Friday 5 August, about two to three weeks earlier than usual. He has already completed harvesting his spring barley, oilseed rape and combine peas.

He operates a three-year rotation of winter wheat, spring barley and then a break crop of either oilseed rape or combine peas.

His spring barley variety Laureate showed a very good yield of at least 9.2t/ha, with low grain nitrogen of 1.4% and a good specific weight of 67kg/hl, all destined for the malting trade.

“It looked a thin crop, but luckily we had showers just when the crop needed it,” he says.

The oilseed rape showed an average yield of 3.75t/ha, while the combine peas disappointed with a yield of just over 3t/ha.

Nigel Pond’s Crusoe milling wheat crop © MAG/David Jones

Range of yields 

Zoe Andrew, key account manager at grain trader Frontier, says wheat yields are ranging from 7t/ha to 12t/ha, and there are also a range of protein contents.

“We are seeing some protein dilution due to high yields, but there are a good range of proteins. There are some pleasing yields, but it is not a blanket of good yields across the country,” she says.

Other grain traders report good yields across southern and eastern England and, if yields continue to be good in the north of England and into Scotland, the UK could be looking at a 14m tonne-plus wheat crop.

The UK wheat area for harvest 2022 is estimated to have risen 1% year-on-year to 1.81m hectares. The annual increase in wheat area has been at the expense of spring barley and oats, which are both down on the year.

Last year, the UK wheat crop produced a crop a fraction short of 14m tonnes, from an area of 1.79m hectares, with an average yield of just over 7.8t/ha. This production was up 45% on the poor harvest of 2020 at 9.7m tonnes, but well down on the record crop of 17.2m tonnes in 2008.

Nigel Pond’s wheat harvest © MAG/David Jones