Recent thunderstorms have left a considerable amount of lodging in crops around the country. The heavy downpours caused significant lodging in many of the very heavy crops, in particular spring barley.

These were at a very vulnerable stage, with moisture-laden heads and very dense canopies. Spring barley is the worst-affected crop. Some crops were virtually flattened, with nothing left standing only the rows beside the tram-tracks. Lodging is also evident in some winter wheat crops, especially in areas where nitrogen overlapping occurred.

Many winter barley crops were also badly shaken by the downpours.

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Lodged crops are a significant worry for growers, as they will inevitably attract birds that will be almost impossible to keep out. As well as potential problems at harvest time, lodging is also more likely to result in quality issues, especially in malting barley crops.

Lodging in later crops may also have a yield penalty, as the grains are still filling. If diseases like rhyncho or net blotch are present they will quickly move through a lodged crop, destroying the plant reserves that can be used to help fill the grains in situations specifically like this. So, where grain filling is not yet complete, both grain yield and grain quality will be adversely affected.