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With growers dropping oilseed rape from their rotations, a shortage of bean seed and uncertain returns from oats and niche crops in the absence of a contract, finding a suitable break crop is proving a challenge.

Availability of seed for popular winter wheat and barley varieties and winter beans, in particular, is likely to be tight this autumn due to reduced plantings and lower yields.

AHDB has released the first quality figures for the UK cereal harvest. The AHDB Cereal Quality Survey results examine quality in samples up to mid-August, just before the widespread rainfall later that month.

Harvest is well underway here in North Yorkshire, albeit at a snail’s pace.

Early drilled oilseed rape (OSR) crops benefited from good weather conditions in August giving them an early boost ahead of cabbage stem flea beetle (CSFB) migration, although some crops have started to receive a hammering

Damage to crops brought by Storm Francis has added further misery to a difficult growing season but analysts have warned imports may place a cap on domestic price rises.