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Winter barley

So far a better year than most with the crop averaging 7.75t/ha, 0/8 t/ha up on last year. It's a pretty consistent picture across the regions of England with the highest yields in the West Midlands averaging 8.8 t/ha. Elsewhere the SE shows an average of 8t/ha whilst in East Anglia, East Midlands, South West, North East and North West yields are between 7 and 7.5 t/ha. Wales has the highest yields at over 9t/ha whilst early results from Scotland show yields around the 7 t/ha mark. The highest yielding variety is Element. Volume and Saffron are both doing well and the most popular varieties are KWS Cassia and Cassata.

Winter oilseed rape

A disappointing harvest for most this year with the average yield nearly a 1 t/ha down on last year's average. Oil content is also down. But bearing in mind 60% of the crop was down on its knees it is surprising yields weren't even lower. Regional yields are remarkably similar with the highest yields in the North West (4.9t/ha) and the lowest in the East Midlands (3.5 t/ha). The other regions are all around the 3.7t/ha mark as are the yields from Wales and Scotland. Variety yields although ranging from a dismal 2.6t/ha to a high of 4.2 t/ha show the bulk of the twenty two varieties recorded waving around the average 3.7t/ha. Overall then a consistently miserable harvest with no real highlights. The most popular varieties are PR46W21, DK Expower and DK Camelot. Grey seeds are common in samples this year.

Winter Wheat

We reckon that only 20% of the crop has been cut so far which is a bit alarming considering the date. Yields to date range from the "that can't be tons/hectare" to the "better than expected". The lowest yield submitted to us up to now is 2t/ha and yes we did check. The highest is over 11t/ha. However, between these two extremes are a ruck of pretty average yields.

Regionally the South West has been hit the hardest with an average wheat yield of 5.9t/ha. The drier (relatively speaking) east has fared somewhat better. Yields from East Anglia average 8.7t/ha, South East and North East 8t/ha. In the Midlands the average is below 8t/ha so far. Crops on light land seem to be yielding better than heavy land probably reflecting their more porous nature in this exceptionally wet growing season. Fusarium ear blight has obviously taken the shine off the harvest reducing grain number and weight. It looks like pheasant feed is a common comment.

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You can submit your own yields to the Farming Online Harvest results using either the web or our own iPhone app. If you have already submitted yields you can view the full variety and regional data plus compare your results against your regional average. So join in the most comprehensive survey of UK harvest yields on the web.

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