‘Combines are out’: UK farmers share harvest update

Berwickshire 

Neil White of Greenknowe Farm in Scotland has just finished cutting his pearl malting barley for Simpsons Malt in Berwick. 

He said: “Not a great yield, very variable within each field. This is disappointing as despite the terrible weather, it looked good all winter.  

“Below average yield could be helped if the nitrogen and specific weight is within spec, so I await the results next week as that will define a success or failure of this year’s winter barley for me.  

“Below average straw yield, which was also dragged down by poorer, heavier soil areas, similar to the grain. Straw was baled into big square bales before the rain and the first loads are heading West on Monday.  

“Summer used to be dry and warm – those were the days. Great straw for someone’s stock this winter.” 

Lincolnshire 

Syngenta’s area manager for Lincolnshire, Henrietta Wells, talked about hybrid barley variety trials carried out by the agricultural R & D company. 

She said: “We breed, trial and test new hybrid barley varieties and select the best ones to become commercially available to farmers. 

“We began harvesting at the beginning of last week, and we’re seeing some really good yields. We’ve got lots of different trials to harvest, both treated and untreated plots” 

Ms Wells added that Syngenta has some exciting new material coming through the pipelines. 

Suffolk 

James Forrest of Forrest Farms, who farms near Stowmarket in Suffolk, started harvesting his winter barley last Thursday, 18th July and he said that it has been combining “reasonably well”. 

However, he added that the yields are “fairly disappointing” compared with previous years. 

“The yields are down, which is partly due to the Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus we got in the autumn. 

“We just weren’t able to spray it because it was so wet due to plenty of rain in autumn and spring. We also haven’t had the sunlight to boost the yield. 

“The amount of sunlight is quite important. We had a cold spring, and the growth regulators don’t work particularly well in lower temperatures,” Mr Forrest said. 

The farmer added that he is quite surprised with the quality of the crops, which he said was “very encouraging”. 

Mr Forrest also added that he decided to chop some of the straw and bale the rest, which depends on the subsequent cropping. 

“We do apply quite a lot of organic manures within the rotation anyway. We do sometimes sell winter barley straw, particularly if we’re trying to establish rapeseed after it. 

“We have been caught out in the past with straw sitting in the field, which has delayed cultivation, so if we see that the straw can be baled out promptly and removed quickly so it doesn’t interfere with our subsequent operations, we might consider selling some of it. 

“This year perhaps some straw sales will go a little way to make up for lack of yield. I don’t particularly like selling straw without something coming back, but we do bring other materials back in, so I don’t mind doing it now and again,” the Suffolk farmer concluded. 

Norfolk  

Guy Savoy of Guy Savory & Son in Fakenham said that the harvest on his farm is going well. 

He added: “We started on the 15th of July on our oilseed rape, which for us is quite early, and we averaged 3.7t/ha, which is excellent on our heavier soils.  

“We have winter wheat and spring barley yet to cut, and they are both two to three weeks away.  

“We could just do with a week or two of sunshine, which is much needed as we still have 100 acres of hay to make.” 

READ MORE: Farmers share “harvest rollercoaster” updates

READ MORE: Early harvest updates from around the UK and Ireland

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