Harvest 2026, for many, will be the earliest in living memory, with some farms in the South East wrapping up all wheat cutting before August. This follows the 2025 harvest being particularly early too.
This unexpected early finish, with crops safely stored without the need to fire the drier up for a second year in a row, and the stubbles now completely dried out waiting for some rain, which for us has been seven days away for the last 14 days and appears right at the end of the BBC Weather app, but we never quite get it.
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The period of potential calm before the inevitable storm of rain, which starts and does not stop until February, could offer an unseasonal opportunity to get away from the farm and go on holiday. An oddity for many, it will require braving popular destinations during the school holidays, but a late booking somewhere different could provide an opportunity to think about something other than farming, particularly when the current weather isn't really supportive of planting a crop to cut in 2027.
