Diary

After a stop / go start due to showers, the weather has now turned hot & dry and harvest is in full swing and the forecast is to remain good for the next week or two.

Winter wheat yields have improved and the quality is excellent, Class 3 & 4 milling with little fodder quality. We expect yields to reach well over 4 tons for the better wheat and even the wheat grown on land which last year was cultivated from derelict has been surprisingly good.

The spring malting barley is coming ripe and we expect to start harvesting for our InBev contract within days.

The 10 harvesters are now working 12 hour days with the usual breakdowns but nothing serious. The Horsch Chaser bin coupled with the JCB Fastrac, one of the first in Russia, has greatly improved field logistics keeping the combines harvesting at maximum capacity and further investment will be made in these units for next year.

Delay's at the elevators grow as we reach the peak of harvesting but we expect these to ease in the next 7-10 days.

The sugar beet & potato crops really benefited from the rains in July although we continue to irrigate the potato crop for a few weeks yet. Harvest is planed to start at the end of August.

Sky and BBC television have both filmed on the farm during August as part of news items on the world commodity situation and Russia's potential to greatly increase production.