Rain delays raise quality concerns for uncut crops

摘要

Harvest continues to be blighted by heavy showers, with milling quality starting to slip in some areas and reports emerging of pre-harvest sprouting. But with better weather forecast, rapid progress could be made over the coming week. Masstock agronomist David Neale said quality of some wheat was starting to suffer in the rain. "It is very concerning - some wheat is going grey and I should think that quality is on the move. But until we get the crop off after the rain, we won't know." Wheat harvest was about 30-35% complete, ranging from finished to not yet started, he said. Harvest was going very slowly in Shropshire and the west Midlands, with 30% of the wheat cut so far, said Julian Walker at Shropshire Grain. However, crops were only just ripe,so were not at risk of losing Hagbergs yet, and yields were slightly better than average.