Harvest Prections 2024 - South England
Winter wheats are already at the grain fill stage in the South West, with early drilled crops displaying very high levels of brown rust and septoria. PGR treatments have worked very well where they were needed, and some crops look to have very good potential. Winter barleys are also looking good, but late season ramularia is causing some concern.
Most of the region’s winter OSR crops are clean with no major disease issues, and crops are mostly quite short so lodging is unlikely.
Winter beans are also looking good and showing massive potential, especially those crops that podded well off the floor and have just finishing flowering. Peas are also flowering, with pea aphids causing some alarm.
Maize crops are also galloping away, with most at 8-15 true leaves (50cm+) and looking very promising. Meanwhile, spring barleys are under pressure from net blotch and ramularia at a time when boots have just split.
The region’s combines could start working in winter barley as soon as 7th July, with winter oilseed rape following a week later although crop maturity is more variable in this crop.
I’m going to stick my neck out and make the following average and maximum yield predictions:
- Spring Barley: average 6.0t/ha, maximum 9.0t/ha
- Winter Barley: average 8.5t/ha, maximum 10.5t/ha
- Winter Wheat: average 9.0t/ha, maximum 11.5t/ha
- Winter OSR: average 3.2t/ha, maximum 4.5t/ha
