Harvest is already under way in the South and South East of England, with combines rolling in both winter barley and oilseed rape.

At Berkyn Manor Farm, Horton, Windsor, Colin Rayner started cutting Cassia winter barley yesterday (3 July) at 14% moisture. “My combine driver wanted to start a week ago but we held off until now,” he said. “It’s not the earliest we’ve started – in 2009 we started Sequel on 30 June, but it had died off in the drought; this year it has ripened naturally.”

So far Mr Rayner had cut 18ha of Cassia, at a yield of between 9t and 10t/ha. “We haven’t calibrated the combine yet – we just wanted to cut this field before the kids break up from school and set fire to it – one of the joys of farming on the urban fringe of Heathrow.”

Using a Claas Lexion 570 with a 30ft header, Mr Rayner expected to continue combining winter barley until the weather broke. “The only disappointing thing is the price – I’ve been quoted £110/t and a £3 premium for malting. At that price we can’t afford to put anything through the drier so we will only be combining when it’s dry.”

He was planning to bale the straw today, with three lorries on standby ready to transport it to Wales.

Having desiccated the oilseed rape on Sunday, Mr Rayner expected to start cutting that in 10-12 days’ time. “It’s the weediest crop I’ve ever grown – none of the herbicides have worked and I’ve got the best looking weeds I’ve ever seen. Without neonicotinoids, I don’t know if we’re going to carry on growing it.”

In Hampshire, Tom Parker and Roger Parrett had also made an early start to harvest, combining oilseed rape at Spurlings Farm, Fareham.

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