The last combines have left the fields around Bramley Cross and Netherby, and the numbers are better than most farmers dared hope. The Asher Valley Growers' Cooperative says its members harvested an average of 8.6 tonnes of wheat per hectare, compared with a five-year average of 7.9 tonnes.
It did not look that way at the start. Persistent rain early in the year left low-lying fields along the river under standing water, delaying drilling by up to a month on some farms. A handful of growers abandoned wheat altogether on their wettest ground and switched to spring barley or left the land fallow.
A late rescue
What changed the picture was a long run of dry, warm weather as the grain was filling, followed by a harvest window that allowed most farms to cut without waiting for the crop to dry. Moisture levels at the cooperative's drying store in Holloway were the lowest in a decade, which also cut fuel bills for drying.
I had written this year off by the time the rain stopped, and now I am looking at one of my three best crops.
Rhodri Penhale, who farms 220 hectares near Netherby, said his heaviest clay fields had done best once they drained. The cooperative's chair, Lindsey Marwood, struck a more cautious note. Prices paid for milling wheat are lower than last year, she said, so a bigger crop does not automatically mean better incomes.
Average wheat yield: 8.6 tonnes per hectare
Area harvested by members: about 14,500 hectares
Share meeting milling quality: 71 per cent
Other crops had a more mixed season. Oilseed rape suffered from pests in the autumn and yields were close to average, while potato growers on the heavier soils reported smaller tubers after the dry summer. Apple orchards near Holloway had a strong blossom but a shortage of seasonal pickers meant some fruit was left on the trees, according to the cooperative, which is now looking at shared labour schemes for next year.
Much of the grain will go to the flour mill at Eastmoor, with the rest sold for animal feed or exported through Asher Point. Attention is now turning to sowing for next year, with many farms planning to drill earlier to avoid a repeat of the spring delays.