After a rain spell which seemed to last from Storm Babet in October to the Suffolk Show in May, farmers are feeling relieved after bringing in their vital wheat harvest.

It's been a patchy year - but most are thankful that the crop has held up better than they expected.

While it won't be a record season - signs are that across the UK, it will be below the five-year yield average - most are celebrating "respectable" yields.

Farmers are seeing the positives after a nightmare start to their growing year with conditions so wet and muddy during the autumn sowing season that many had to change their plans and plant spring crops instead of winter ones.

And the wet conditions have led to higher incidence of ergots - a type of toxic fungi - for some. Where it is present in cereals it has to be removed - adding to farmers' costs.

For Matthew Hawthorne, who heads up farming operations on the fast-draining soils of the Euston Estate near Thetford, it has been a late harvest - but a very successful one overall.

Much of the estate is on light, sandy soil and out of 3,000 tonnes of wheat harvested this year, just 87t had to be treated for ergots. He's one of the lucky ones. "Very rarely do we suffer from it - I would say it's less than normal," he said.

One of the highlights for him this year has been testing out a new Claas Trion 750 combine harvester. This cut through the crop like a dream and he was celebrating one of his easiest harvests.

"It went very well. We finished on Monday (August 19) and yields are really good. Quality is inconsistent but generally there for milling wheat - but there were a few surprises along the way," he said. 

The inconsistencies were around protein - which lurched from high to low for no obvious reason from one field to another. "Everybody seems to be suffering from it - I think in general we have got more consistent proteins than a lot have," he said.

These are vital for his milling wheats - and where he has the right quality then good prices follow.

"Some of it's sold next year so we don't know the price of that. We are achieving early £200/t on milling wheats so we are happy with that," he said.

Things can go wrong at harvest - from breakdowns to staffing or weather issues but all has gone well this year, he said.

Because of the weather and its effect on the wheat - which was later to ripen - they started the harvest a week or so later than normal and finished about a week later than they normally do as a result.

"It has been a really smooth harvest for all of us - nobody is absolutely dead on their feet," he said.

And with the crop in, they are looking forward to a bit of Bank Holiday downtime, he said.

Richard Owen - who farms at Occold, near Eye - has finished his wheat harvest and is also feeling quite upbeat after the challenges he has faced.

Richard Owen of Occold (Image: Sarah Chambers)

"Considering how the year started and the weather and what have you, we had a reasonable harvest really. 

"It was very variable. Some was better than others but we had some very good yields and the ones where it was drilled when it started raining and didn't stop they were quite poor but on the whole we have had quite a reasonable harvest.

"They averaged from just below 11t/ha down to 7.5/8t/ha. The first wheats that are after a break crop did very well but the second wheats which were wheat after wheat were the second drilled ones let us down a bit.

"The winter barley did around 8/8.5t/ha and the spring barley did between 6/7t/has. 

"It could have been a hell of a lot worse. If we had had a dry spring which we didn't thankfully it would not have been great but we had the wet spring. That really helped us to keep everything going."

He also enjoyed an easy harvest - starting late but moving through it quickly.

Wheat prices have fallen from their all-time highs (Image: Sonya Duncan)

"We didn't need to use the dryer - the weather did it all. It has been fairly straightforward."

But his wheats are feed wheats and prices are poor at the moment. "Wheat needs to be £200/t plus really. Here we are foundering at around £160/t or £170/t. It's a bit in the doldrums really."

He is drilling rape ahead of rain at the weekend. "We have got to get all the land ready and get it in good fettle because the rain has done so much damage in places."

For him, damp conditions have meant ergots have been an issue this year. "It's another headache, " he said. Removing it will cost around £10-£20/t.

"We think it was probably to do with the wet spring we had," he said. "Some people have got blackgrass problems which encourages it even more."

(Image: Sonya Duncan)

Glenn Buckingham - who farms at Framsden, near Debenham - said his wheat crop had been "ordinary" this year. Spring barley was mixed - with some good and some "very ordinary". He tried spring oats for the first time and estimates that this crop was around average.

"I think we were affected by the wet weather," he said.

James Forrest, of Stonham, near Stowmarket, was still working on his wheat harvest this week. His barley yields were about 25/30% down on his average.

"Wheat was lower than we would normally expect but given the year I'm relieved with what we have got," he said.

No crop likes wet feet, he added. "It might be to do with the reduced amount of sunshine and clear weather and a bit more disease pressure because of the rain - it's probably a combination," he said.

Quality seemed to be reasonable but there seemed to be more ergots this year. Prices have also slipped, he said.

"We are grateful for what we have got. It's certainly not going to be a record-breaking year."

A harvested wheat field (Image: Sarah Chambers)