Farmers have made more progress into wheat crops over the past few days, particularly Thursday to Monday, after heavy showers at the beginning of last week. Most winter barley and oilseed rape that is not yet cut is limited to the North of England with the last remaining patches of these crops being picked up during gaps in the weather where possible.
Wheat crops up and down the country are still holding on to quality - most are ripe now, with some crops necking over and turning pale to grey. Wheat remains green in northernmost parts of the country and areas in the West Midlands where harvest has been delayed most.
Around 20-25% of the national wheat crop has been cut now, and ripening crops that remain are increasingly vulnerable to weather damage to quality, particularly in southern and eastern regions. With drying grain much more expensive than previous years, due to steep increases in fuel cost, farmers are still hoping for a good long run of dry weather, ideally bringing moisture content to below 15% where drying would not be necessary.
A good deal of land work has taken place in previous weeks in preparation for wheat crops following oilseed and barley. With soil conditions still fairly wet after last week's rain, some have begun planting oilseed crops for next year's harvest but for most cultivation has often been limited to ploughing and even that has not been possible on some clay soils.