UK: UK’s grain harvest off to the fastest start since 2006 due to hot weather

Long dry spells in the spring and recent hot temperatures mean that harvest is off to the fastest start since at least 2006 (earliest available harvest report) in the UK, with multiple reports of winter barley being cut in June, AHDB reported on July 14.

The first harvest report of the 2025/26 season has been released, covering the beginning of harvest up to 9 July 2025.

Produced with data collected by The Andersons Centre and compiled by AHDB, the report is based on a sample survey of farmers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland and will provide figures on harvest progress throughout the harvest season.

Due to a band of heavy rainfall during the weekend of 5–6 July, there was a slight pause in combining, though harvest pace has since picked up.

Winter barley harvest is progressing rapidly, owing to the dry weather either side of 5–6 July.

However, progress is highly variable both within and between regions.

Overall, it is estimated that 10% of the UK winter barley area was harvested by 9 July 2025.

This is ahead of the same time last year when harvest was 7% complete, and the five-year average of 6% complete at this point in the season.

While some oilseed rape has now been cut, no progress was reported by participants in this survey.

Reports of yields in the earliest cut oilseed rape have been encouraging, though variable.

Harvest is expected to continue progressing well in the coming fortnight.

There will now be a gap for many before winter wheat harvest starts, while some will move straight into harvesting oilseed rape.

Olivia Bonser, AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Senior Analyst, said:

“Given that we are at an early stage in the season, and that weather has been variable in the approach to harvest, there will inevitably be variation in farms across the country.

"As can be expected, some regions have only seen minimal progress at this point.

"As such, early yield data may well be skewed and should not be considered representative of the whole country.

"Information on quality is also limited at this point.”

So far, progress has only been recorded in the eastern and south eastern regions in this survey.

However, harvest has begun in other regions too. In the eastern region, 38% of winter barley is reported to have been harvested.

This ranges from some farms that are yet to start to others who have now finished. In the South East, 19% of the crop has been harvested.

For farms further north and west, harvest is expected to start early next week.

Straw volumes are proving a challenge so far this season, with some noticeably short crops due to the prolonged warm and dry weather.