Is harvest 2019 getting desperate in Scotland??

[glasshouse]

Bought a new mf6170 110hp for 30k in 1997. Wouldn't be much use for most of implements we use today. With increased costs we're getting more output?


Would i be asking if i remembered?

£160 is a figure i cant forget in 96
It was all downhill since with bse foot n mouth etc

 

[jh.]

I cycled the Fife coastal path yesterday where there were some good standing crops of ats and wheat but others flat. Plenty wheel tracks seen, even from a tracked Lexion above Rosyth and looked a fair number of unthreshed heads on the ground

If i drove over edge I'd land on the coastal path about 20meters below

 

[jd2013]

Wheat all sprouting in the head!
Still due a couple inches of rain and 40 mph wind.

 

[glasshouse]

The biggest issue is we produce a commodity with only 3 real buyers. It’s the business we are in and I can’t see it changing.

We dont produce a commodity.
Scottish malting barley is a niche product , vital to a massive multi billion pound industry.
Imported barley should be banned and pgi status given to our barley.

 

[wuddy]

Managed to get the wheat finished today, about 200 acre of oats left to cut with around half of them flat on the ground and some starting to shed hopefully get them cut towards end of week. Have about 300 acre of straw lying on the ground it just about gets dry enough then rains again very frustrating!

 

[Northernlights]

We dont produce a commodity.
Scottish malting barley is a niche product , vital to a massive multi billion pound industry.
Imported barley should be banned and pgi status given to our barley.

Yes remember the good old days when we got a bonus for low nitrogens .Speaking to a neighbour tonight and we are both getting some of our lowest ever average nitrogens around 1.2 to 1.3 and were just saying that the old bonuses would have eased the low grain prices this year.

 

[Bossfarmer]

Yes remember the good old days when we got a bonus for low nitrogens .Speaking to a neighbour tonight and we are both getting some of our lowest ever average nitrogens around 1.2 to 1.3 and were just saying that the old bonuses would have eased the low grain prices this year.

whats the reason for such low N? Yield diluting it?

 

[Northernlights]

whats the reason for such low N? Yield diluting it?

Yes possibly a bit due to yield but probably 2 months worth of rain in both the last two weeks of May and again in the first two weeks of June.Have never seen such a wet end of May and beginining of June in over 40 years.

 

[glasshouse]

Two more different years are hard to find, mind you
84-85
96-97
2003-04
2011-12 all spring to mind

 

[Donkey Oaty]

Who is thinking harvest 2019 is/has been a disaster or even worse than normal?
I am not in the smug position of having everything harvested. I still have SB and all the wheat to cut yet. It is ready now. I haven't traveled all over Scotland to see what things are like in other areas , But from what I can see and hear locally, most crops are already cut and high yields are being reported. The weather has been showery for the last few weeks, but it seems far from a desperate situation to me. Comparisons to 1985 are ridiculous!
There have been plenty occasions when Scottish farming has faced adversity and hardship and help has been needed. But I don't think that this harvest is one of them.

 

[glasshouse]

Who is thinking harvest 2019 is/has been a disaster or even worse than normal?
I am not in the smug position of having everything harvested. I still have SB and all the wheat to cut yet. It is ready now. I haven't traveled all over Scotland to see what things are like in other areas , But from what I can see and hear locally, most crops are already cut and high yields are being reported. The weather has been showery for the last few weeks, but it seems far from a desperate situation to me. Comparisons to 1985 are ridiculous!
There have been plenty occasions when Scottish farming has faced adversity and hardship and help has been needed. But I don't think that this harvest is one of them.

You are a bit out of date!
This thread started a month ago when things were looking a bit desperate with flat crops and heavy rain.
A month is a long time in farming and kinder weather has sorted the situation, but i would say on august 12 that it was looking a bit 85 ish

 

[Donkey Oaty]

You are a bit out of date!
This thread started a month ago when things were looking a bit desperate with flat crops and heavy rain.
A month is a long time in farming and kinder weather has sorted the situation, but i would say on august 12 that it was looking a bit 85 ish

That is my point really. Looking at things on August 12th and saying it is desparate was a huge over-reaction. And as I said further back on this thread, crops had potential for big yields this year which most folk have harvested now.
That was never the case in 1985.

 

[glasshouse]

That is my point really. Looking at things on August 12th and saying it is desparate was a huge over-reaction. And as I said further back on this thread, crops had potential for big yields this year which most folk have harvested now.
That was never the case in 1985.

Crops in 85 maybe yielded less, but they were worth more!!

 

[michael N123]

Plenty of crops round here fit to pick up but waiting for the contractors

 

[jd2013]

Not looking good in moray and around the coast here. Probably only 45% cut with lots of talk of pre germ.
The fields are also soaking, there's going to be a lot of tracks through the fields and stuck bogies if the weather does not improve dramatically. Yes some boys have finished and crops were good, but still a lot of lads who have not even started!
We seem to be getting every rain cloud possible, 32mm for the month so far on top of 145mm for August. No real drying days in-between.
cut wheat last week in not great conditions ranging from 19 to 27, not ideal but better than waiting for the sprouts to grow or shake in the gales we have now.

 

[michael N123]

Why don’t more people crimp there feed barly ?

It gives you a lot more chances to get it harvested in good time

 

[jd2013]

Why don’t more people crimp there feed barly ?

It gives you a lot more chances to get it harvested in good time

95% of sb around here is for the maltings

 

[Sandy]

Who is thinking harvest 2019 is/has been a disaster or even worse than normal?
I am not in the smug position of having everything harvested. I still have SB and all the wheat to cut yet. It is ready now. I haven't traveled all over Scotland to see what things are like in other areas , But from what I can see and hear locally, most crops are already cut and high yields are being reported. The weather has been showery for the last few weeks, but it seems far from a desperate situation to me. Comparisons to 1985 are ridiculous!
There have been plenty occasions when Scottish farming has faced adversity and hardship and help has been needed. But I don't think that this harvest is one of them.

The ground is sodden here we’ve had 200mm of rain since 1st of August so yes 1985 is similar around this area

 

[ridger]

That is my point really. Looking at things on August 12th and saying it is desparate was a huge over-reaction. And as I said further back on this thread, crops had potential for big yields this year which most folk have harvested now.
That was never the case in 1985.

It's that bossfarmer, he always sees the worst in everything

 

[Northernlights]

According to the AHDB August in Scotland has been the wettest since 1910. However a lot of rain has been thundery in nature so some areas have had much less than others. In my neck of the woods we have had about ten 48hour dry periods since mid May during which we have concentrated on neep sowing, silage wrapping,hay making and harvesting doable but needs to be well thought out in advance. Not the stress free summer weather of last year when the only worry was would we have enough feed for the cattle in the winter. This year grass yields have been exceptional. In my immediate vicinity there are still hundreds of acres of cereals still to cut.