Poor grain fill in many winter barely crops appears to be mirrored in winter oats where there are many reports to poorer-quality grain from the crops already harvested.

Many early crops have produced specific weights of 48 to 52KPH but some are higher. One merchant in a good oat-growing area told me he is currently averaging 54KPH and a few farmers have told me that they had some 55-56KPH loads. But these seem scarce in the overall crop so far.

Yield levels are being affected by poor grain fill. There have been a few very poor crops but most of those harvested to date tend to be in the 3.0-3.5t/ac range. However, early indications suggest no yield benefit across the south where, so far, oat yields may only be averaging 3.0-3.2t/ac. Oat harvesting is already finished in pockets of the northeast but while yields were reasonable at 3.2-3.8t/ac, quality was still disappointing, with many crops below 52KPH. Perhaps later crops will offer more.

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There was certainly some improvement in the later winter barley crops in parts of the country. So far it would appear that the south may have fared better than other regions in terms of overall yield levels and growers there deserve that break because they did not enjoy high yields in 2015.

It would seem that the northeast is taking the bigger hit on yield levels this harvest. Winter barley yield in these counties appears to be ranging from 3.2-3.6t/ac, with regional averages around 3.3-3.4t/ac. While these will disappoint growers, they are actually trending close to national average yields. This compares with an estimated 3.6t/ac average across parts of the south of the country.

Barley grain quality has been disappointing, with specific weights ranging from the high 50s up to 67KPH. For many, the quality of six-row types was particularly disappointing, with specific weights often under 60 but then other areas were up around 62-63KPG for the same varieties.

Variety performance appears to have been very variable across the country. For some a specific variety was poorest, for others it was best. Some got better yields from six-row types while others got superior yields from two-row varieties.

There is an amount of winter oilseed rape harvested also, with recent deliveries ranging from eight to 12% moisture. Yields again seem to be back on last year with reports mainly in the 1.5 to 1.7 t/ac bracket. Crops vary considerably in maturity date and it remains to be seen if later ripening crops will yield better.