The combine was out last Friday afternoon in Devon where farmer Roger Adams has taken what is thought to be the UK’s first cereal harvest of the year.
Harvesting winter barley, he has crimped the crop to feed to his beef, bringing it in at moisture content of around 45 per cent.
By crimping the barley, he is not only able to compile a ration with a high cereal content which can be safely fed to his beef, he is also able to maximise use of the land after the early harvest.
He will immediately sow the cereal ground with Westerwold ryegrass, which will be ready to cut as silage by mid-September, in around three months’ time.
Mr Adams, who farms at Honeypark Farm with his son, Craig, said the early-cut barley was drilled at the end of last September and was well established before the cold snap hit the southwest of England.
“It got off to a ripping good start before the weather turned bad last winter,” he says. “And the crop recovered quickly after the cold and late spring.”
Although he hasn’t weighed the crop he says he is confident yields are high and is expecting a freshweight of around five tonnes/acre (12t/ha). Even when the high moisture of the crop is considered, this will produce a high dry matter yield per hectare.
Mr Adams is able to use the barley to grow and finish the 400 head of beef he keeps on the 400 acre (162ha) family farm.
It is used in a completely home-grown ration which also includes grass and maize silage, dry rolled wheat and beans.
News of the first cereal harvest follows the launch of the NFU's campaign 'Your Harvest' which seeks to raise the profile of the British arable sector.
