Harvest progress report: 25 August 2025
Each Monday during harvest we are sharing the first-hand accounts of farmers across the UK.
As a bank holiday bonus this week, our co-founder, and arable farmer, Andrew Huxham sat down to discuss Harvest 2025 with our content team. In this clip he explains why this year his spring barley has unexpectedly outperformed winter barley.
Here’s what we have heard from farmers over the past week:
South
In Hertfordshire, most crops are now in the shed, including milling wheat, feed wheat, barley, oats, and beans. Yields have been down overall, though quality is holding up well, particularly for wheat.
In Devon, feed wheat cutting is complete, with yields turning out much better than expected and grain going into store without the need to dry.
Meanwhile in West Sussex, winter barley, OSR, and beans are all finished. Yields came in at 6.7 t/ha for barley, 4.5 t/ha for OSR, and 2.9 t/ha for beans. Against the five-year farm average, this equates to a 9% drop in barley but a strong 30% increase in OSR performance.
East
In Cambridgeshire, reports suggest that milling wheat yields have been reasonable.
Essex farmers have completed harvest across feed wheat, milling wheat, oats, OSR, and beans. Barley and peas are also finished. Reports suggest barley yields were steady, wheat yields were disappointing, but quality has been good, with the sunny weather helping to lift protein levels.
Midlands
In the West Midlands, one farmer reported completing harvest across milling wheat, barley, oats, and rye.
In South Glamorgan, harvest wrapped up a few weeks ago, with barley and wheat described by one enthusiastic farmer as the best they’ve ever looked!
In Northamptonshire, one farmer growing wheat, barley, oats, OSR, beans, and peas had finished by early August, reporting average results both for yield and quality.
North
In South Yorkshire, wheat, barley, and beans are all complete, with the bean harvest finished just over a week ago.
In Tyne and Wear, harvest is nearly done, with only spring wheat left to cut. Yields so far have averaged around 3 t/acre across the crops.
Scotland
In Aberdeenshire, feed wheat, feed barley, malting barley, and feed oats have all been harvested, with only oats left to finish. It has been a tough season, with malting barley suffering from high screenings and low bushel weights.
In contrast, Angus has seen excellent results, with yields on wheat, barley, and rye all reported as very strong this year.
AHDB Harvest Report
On 14 August, AHDB revealed that, in response to criticism from farmers over their wheat yields, they had found a data error. This unfortunately means that yield estimates from their initial Harvest Reports this year should be disregarded.
Last Friday, AHDB published their fourth Harvest Report for 2025, with corrected yield estimates. This showed that, for the week ending 20 August, the wheat harvest was 92% complete, with an average UK yield of 7.3 t/ha. Meanwhile, 68% of the spring barley harvest has been completed, up from 19% a fortnight earlier. The average yield for spring barley is 5.8 t/ha, compared to 6.7 t/ha for the completed winter barley harvest.
