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At one point, it looked like winter barley harvest would start 10 days early, but cooler weather intervened.
It still kicked off at least five days earlier than normal, in the middle of last week. Early reports are reasonable, with a good amount cut at this point.
Much of this is six-row types, or mixes of two- and six-rows. Most yield reports lie between 3.7 and 4.3 t/acre at both sides of 20% moisture.
Quality seems good too, with reports between 63 and 68 KPH. Undoubtedly, there is an occasional poorer crop about.
Harvesting may begin in many other areas later this week, when the weather picks up.
While many areas might not expect to start until next week, there are concerns in some areas that grain fill is not what it might have been and that crops have come in much quicker than was expected.
Prices
Prices are trending upwards slightly and many merchants have been offering either side of €140/t for green winter barley.
Demand for straw appears to be solid, with growers expecting between €15 and €17 per 4x4 round bale.
Ear blight has become more obvious in many crops, but generally at low and hopefully insignificant levels.
Wheat crops appear to be going off-colour quite early. Whiteheads have become more evident in crops over the past two weeks.
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