Suffolk's farmers upbeat as harvest approaches

Although the UK's impact on the world food commodities market is minor, the region punches above its weight in cereal production.

Winter crops in particular are looking in good shape - and farmers are feeling upbeat as they prepare to dust off their combines ready for a busy season.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 set off a chain reaction across markets which is still being felt today.

Wheat prices have dropped back from an all-time high in mid-May - when the futures market spiked at an astonishing £356/t - leaving farmers here in a dilemma over whether to sell.

Prices they would have bitten buyers' hands off for just a year ago no longer seem as attractive - but are still hugely high compared to where they were just a year ago.

However, farmers are facing a barrage of price rises themselves - from energy through to fertiliser - and seed merchants report that some are holding back to see if prices pick up again.

Over in west Suffolk, Andrew Blenkiron, director of the Euston Estate and chairman of the Suffolk branch of the National Farmers' Union, says he is about two weeks away from the start of harvest.

His winter cereals - planted last September and October - comprise wheat for milling, barley for seed and rye for the estate's anaerobic digestion (AD) plant.

Crops from the previous two years suffered from establishment problems after particularly challenging autumns and winters - but it's a different story this year.

All of these crops were well established last autumn. That ensured that they came through the winter in good condition and that they generally put good roots down, he says.

However, a dry spring has had an impact on some, he adds. "Wheat is looking reasonably well, although recent rains did allow disease pressure to increase, this limited rain did allow the crop to hang on quite well, only to be knocked back by last week's intense heat.

"Although it will depend on what happens over the next couple of weeks wheat looks like it will be an average crop here and certainly better than the last two years - fingers crossed."

The wheat crop still maturing on the Euston Estate near Thetford (Image: Andrew Blenkiron)

Ideally he is looking for good sunshine - but temperatures not exceeding 20C - and in a perfect world, rain all night.

"That’s what they call the farmers prayer though," he says. "Our barley looks a lot better than the last two years and thanks to reasonably good conditions through may and June looks to be filling well, although the dry April/May has certainly limited its potential.

"I would estimate that it will yield mid-way between average and good. That of course is only because our five year average yield has been so adversely effected by the last two years.

"Rye did suffer from the lack of rain in April and I would suggest that yield will be at least 10% down from last year, it just hasn’t grown tall enough or tillered (develop shoots) well enough, which is disappointing. The fantastic thing is that wheat and barley prices are fantastic - let's hope that holds after harvest.

The estate's spring crops of forage maize for the AD plant and sugar beet generally look "fantastic", he says, but while the sugar beet went into ideal soil conditions in late March, it was a bit slow to germinate because of the cold.

However, after the plants emerged they never took back - with just enough rain to keep going.

"The only challenge that the beet is now facing is that they are flagging on the really hot days. With such big bold leaves evapotranspiration rates are very high and water supply is not enough to sustain the crop, so it needs a good drink very soon to ensure that on our light land it can achieve a yield somewhere near its potential."

His AD forage maize went into fantastic conditions about eight weeks ago with enough rain to get it going - although it has got to the stage where it needs quite some water to sustain its rapid growth.

Grasslands on the estate's light lands have suffered and he is having to supplement the cows' feed with straw from last year in some fields, he says.

The irrigated crops - onions, potatoes and carrots - are growing well, although the colder spring and late frosts held things back a bit - and they are using "massive" amounts of what is very costly water - as the price of electricity for the pumps has shot up this year, he says.