U.K: Harvest sees ‘good progress’ due to drier weather but ‘variable quality’

Drier weather over the past two weeks has allowed this year’s harvest to make good progress, according to AHDB’s latest report.

However, there is variable quality, including some lower Hagberg falling numbers (HFN) for winter wheat and germination levels for spring barley.

By 29 August, the winter barley harvest was complete, as was the oilseed rape harvest with the exception of a few fields in the North East, the report says.

Winter wheat harvesting is now in the latter stages, at 89% complete – a marked rise from the 37% complete a fortnight earlier and is now ahead of the five-year average.

Harvesting of spring barley also made good progress since the last report, though it remains slightly behind the five-year average.

The areas with most crops proportionally still to be cut are the North East and Scotland.

Oat hаrvest progress is now also ahead of the five-year average for the time of year, with the main areas remaining in Yorkshire (43% complete) and the East Midlands (60% complete).

Helen Plant, AHDB senior analyst explained more: “We have information on cereal quality compared to the previous report; this shows the impact of the difficult weather during harvest, with some lower HFN and germination rates.

“It’s important to note that there are often delays between crops being harvested and quality information becoming available so these figures may still change.

“However, if confirmed, it could point to GB milling wheat and malting barley supplies being tighter this season.”

In winter wheat, protein levels so far look encouraging, AHDB’s report says, but there is variation in specific weights and HFN.

Typical HFN are ranging between 220–250 nationally, down from 260–300 in the levy board’s last report.

Barley specific weights are variable, while germination of both winter and spring malting varieties is reported to typically be around 96–98% to date.

Ms Plant said: “However, for spring barley, the situation for germination varies amongst the regions for which we have insights.

“There are better levels in the East and East Midlands, but reports of crops failing germination tests in the West Midlands and Yorkshire.

“Most spring crops so far have acceptable nitrogen contents and there have not been any reports of any mycotoxin issues.

“Oat specific weights are generally said to be acceptable, albeit with some variability. Spring oats are tending to have lower specific weights compared to winter oats.”

Tags: harvest, winter wheat, AHDB, oat, quality, spring barley