IT'S BEEN a year of quality production for the UK's arable farmers.

Though they have not broken any records on yield, a high proportion of wheat, for example, has met exacting bread milling specifications. There have been more mixed results for barley growers, though.

The proportion of nabim Group 1 wheat varieties hitting bread wheat specification is the highest for 10 years, according to the second provisional results of the AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds cereal Quality survey, with a massive 46% of samples hitting the spec'.

James Webster, AHDB's analyst, said: “With more results now in, we are beginning to get a clearer picture how the quality of this year’s harvest is shaping up and 15,536 wheat samples in total had been analysed by September 24, 2016."

Nearly half the samples analysed so far meet or exceed the required quality standards, which are a minimum specific weight of 76 kg/hl, Hagberg falling number (HFN) greater than or equal to 250 seconds and a minimum protein content of 13%.

Last year, only 31% of all the samples met or exceeded the requirements for high-quality bread wheat, due to lower average protein levels.

Mr Webster added: “The high proportion meeting milling standards this year is likely to mean a greater proportion of the domestic crop being used in the UK flour milling industry.

"However, with a lower specific weight than in the previous two years, extraction rates are likely to be lower, which could also influence the amount of wheat required.”

The revised provisional average protein level for 2016 was 12.5% and the average HFN for all samples was 309 seconds – making it one of the highest levels on record, with only five harvests since 1977 exceeding that figure.

Specific weight remains below the three-year average at 76.7 kg/hl. This may reflect an increased proportion of nabim Group 4 samples analysed – they accounted for 28% of the most recent sample.

For barley, the latest results indicated a smaller specific weight and grain size than the three-year average, although they increased on the first provisional results.

This may be due to an increased proportion of Scottish barley samples as Scottish barley accounted for 41% of the 19,908 samples analysed to date.

The percentage of barley retained through a 2.5mm, at 91.9%, is behind the three-year average of 95.3%, though there was significant variance in the samples analysed.

Some were as low as 75.4% and there is a gulf between winter and spring results – there's an average retained level of just 89.4% in winter barley samples against 93.6% in spring barley.

Mr Webster commented: “With the addition of more samples from Scotland and northern England the second provisional release highlights the regional differences in nitrogen content.

"The average nitrogen content in Scottish barley samples, at 1.50%, is noticeably lower than the average level seen in England and Wales at 1.64%. That said, both are still above 2015 final levels.

“The difference in the nitrogen levels is reflective of the end use of grains from Scotland compared with those in England. A large proportion of Scottish grain goes into distilling, which requires a lower nitrogen content than that required for brewing.”