Cereals News

With drought continuing to affect large areas of the UK, maize growers are closely monitoring crop development to determine optimal harvest timing. Some of them have already started harvesting.

With the UK harvest being one of the earliest ever, many growers are already looking ahead to the new season and preparing for drilling of winter cereals. While this earlier drilling may help spread the workload, it significantly raises the risk of Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV), warns Ruth Stanley of Sumitomo Chemical. 

While harvesting progress has been strong – outpacing five-year averages – the combination of lower yields for many growers and falling grain prices throughout the year points to significant financial challenges for arable farms, the latest AHDB harvest report has found.

Pesticide resistance continues to challenge arable production, with diminishing efficacy against key pest species. 

One of the two UK bioethanol plants, Vivergo, has ceased production after discussions with the government failed to reach a solution that would allow it to continue operating.

Richard Heady says yields have been “thoroughly disappointing” this year, though crops were grown on a budget.

After a disastrous harvest last year, Suffolk farmer John Pawsey says he’s hoping for an ‘average plus’ year in 2025.

Following feedback from growers and the wider industry on the wheat yield estimate, an error has been identified in the background data.

Unusually high levels of yellow rust in some winter wheat varieties this year have led to a major revision to disease resistance ratings, AHDB has revealed.

As harvest concludes at Tom Martin’s farm in Cambridgeshire, he notes that while they’ve seen fairly average yields, the order in which crops were harvested was highly unusual.

Defra is being urged to ensure the SFI supports farmers in the face of a changing climate, as it develops the next round.

Jeremy Clarkson has described this year’s harvest at Diddly Squat as “catastrophic”, prompting a debate on food security.