UK farmers have harvested a third of the country’s wheat crop in the space of a week. Although the harvest got off to a slow star due to continued rainy conditions, farmers harvested 700,000 of the UK’s 2 million hectares of winter wheat last week, according to the latest data from ADAS.

Between 5th and 11th September UK farmers managed to bring the harvest back up to speed and back into line with the five-year average, harvesting a third of the entire wheat crop. Harvest is currently estimated to be 90 per cent complete across the country.

Last week farmers cut an estimated 900,000 hectares of crops in total. The week’s efforts compare favourably to the 400,000 hectares harvested the previous week and served to turn around a harvest which had been lamented as the slowest in recent memory.

ADAS said that the dramatic increase in activity was due to vastly improved weather conditions. However, in Scotland, progress has been significantly slower in wheat harvesting.

Despite the flurry of activity, concerns persist over lower yields and the effect of the wettest spring and second wettest summer on record on crop quality. Nevertheless, news that the harvest has regained momentum will be of some comfort.

Adding to concerns about quality, ADAS said hagbergs had fallen in crops harvested this week and weight per given volume is also down. ADAS said, "Hagberg falling numbers have held up fairly well over the last month, but they are now starting to slip with crops harvested this week averaging 200 seconds, down from 230 seconds last week."

Yields have been variable this year, with crops on lighter lands in the Midlands faring better on average.

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