Weighbridge7 min
What is a weighbridge? A working guide for UK farms
What a weighbridge is, what one costs to buy or use, how trade certification works, and when a farm actually needs its own bridge.
Resources
Farm & harvest guides
Practical writing on weighbridges, harvest tracking, sheds, fields, and the habits that keep grain farm data trustworthy through the busy weeks.
53 guides · updated as new articles publish
Weighbridge
Running the pad during harvest - tickets, weigh-in and weigh-out, and getting every load recorded correctly.
- Weighbridge6 min
Weighbridge tickets: what to record on every load
What belongs on a weighbridge ticket, why half-filled tickets cause trouble months later, and how to go paperless without losing the discipline.
- Weighbridge8 min
Weighbridge software for UK farms: how to choose
Most weighbridge software is built for quarries and waste sites. Here's what farms actually need, what the options cost, and the questions to ask before buying.
- Weighbridge6 min
Public weighbridges: costs, rules, and how to use one
How to find and use a public weighbridge in the UK: typical fees per weighing, why a load needs two, what to bring, and why the ticket is worth keeping.
- Weighbridge6 min
How much does a farm weighbridge cost?
What a farm weighbridge costs in the UK: new, pit-mounted, refurbished and axle pads compared, the hidden costs, and the payback sums that justify one.
- Weighbridge7 min
Weighbridge accuracy: calibration, drift and how to check
Why weighbridge readings drift, how to spot a bridge that's out, simple farm checks that catch errors early, and what annual calibration involves.
- Weighbridge7 min
Installing a farm weighbridge: site, groundworks and timing
Where to put a farm weighbridge, why the concrete approaches matter more than the deck, pit versus surface, and a realistic timeline from order to first load.
- Weighbridge6 min
Axle pads and portable weighbridges: are they good enough?
How axle weigh pads work, why summed axle weights are less accurate than a full bridge, what pads cost, and the jobs they're genuinely good for on a farm.
- Weighbridge7 min
How to weigh grain without a weighbridge
The realistic options for weighing grain without a weighbridge, from merchant intake weights to heap estimates, with what each costs and when it's fine.
- Weighbridge6 min
Using a weighbridge for trade: the rules that apply
What the Weights and Measures Act means for farm weighbridges, when a bridge must be approved and verified, and why most grain sales don't require it.
- Weighbridge7 min
Buying a second-hand weighbridge: what to check
What to check before buying a used weighbridge: load cells, deck corrosion, indicator age, moving costs, and when paying extra for new makes sense.
Harvest tracking
Following the harvest year as it unfolds - crop totals, daily progress, and keeping the team aligned.
- Harvest tracking6 min
How to track harvest without a spreadsheet
Why the harvest spreadsheet cracks in the exact weeks it's needed most, and what a load-by-load system looks like that survives a big wheat day.
- Harvest tracking7 min
A harvest spreadsheet layout that mostly works
A working column layout for a harvest spreadsheet, the habits that keep it accurate through wheat, and an honest look at where it stops coping.
- Harvest tracking6 min
The pre-harvest checklist for clean records
The record-keeping jobs to do in the fortnight before the first field: areas checked, sheds allocated, tares taken, meters tested and the team briefed.
- Harvest tracking6 min
Keeping the harvest team on the same numbers
How harvest teams lose track of fields, sheds and varieties, what each role needs to know, and why one shared record beats radios and WhatsApp groups.
- Harvest tracking5 min
Five numbers to check every harvest evening
The five figures worth checking every harvest evening — tonnes cut, moisture trend, shed space, drier backlog and tomorrow's movements — and why.
- Harvest tracking6 min
Combine yield monitor vs weighbridge: which to trust
What combine yield monitors measure, why they drift 3-5% without calibration, and why the weighbridge stays the ground truth for tonnage and money.
- Harvest tracking6 min
When does harvest start in the UK?
Typical UK harvest dates by crop — winter barley from early July, wheat through August — plus what actually decides the start: moisture, not the calendar.
- Harvest tracking7 min
Trailer logistics: keeping the combine moving
How to work out how many grain trailers a combine actually needs, where the chain breaks at the pad and the drier, and the fixes that genuinely help.
- Harvest tracking6 min
Using a combining contractor: agree the records first
What to agree with a combining contractor before the machine arrives: whose areas count, whose weights count, and who fills in the paperwork.
Sheds & stock
Knowing what is in each shed - fill levels, crop mixes, and stock movements after the trailer leaves the pad.
- Sheds & stock8 min
Grain moisture content: safe storage levels for wheat, barley and OSR
Target moisture levels for combining, selling and storing UK grain, what heat and insects do to wet grain, and how to keep a store safe until it's sold.
- Sheds & stock8 min
On-farm grain storage: sheds, silos, and knowing what's in them
Flat stores versus silos for UK grain, what storage costs against paying a co-op, and why most storage problems are really record-keeping problems.
- Sheds & stock7 min
Preparing a grain store for harvest
How to prepare a grain store for harvest: the clean-down in the right order, proofing and repairs, bait points before grain arrives, and the records to keep.
- Sheds & stock7 min
Monitoring grain temperature in store
Why grain temperature is the earliest warning of trouble in store, the targets to hit by autumn and winter, and how to probe, record and act on a rise.
- Sheds & stock7 min
Grain store insects and mites: prevention beats cure
The insects and mites that infest UK grain stores, where they hide between harvests, why cooling below 15°C is the cheapest control, and how to monitor.
- Sheds & stock8 min
Grain drying options: on-floor, batch and continuous
On-floor, batch and continuous-flow grain drying compared: costs, throughput, how to match a system to your tonnage, and the drier-as-bottleneck problem.
- Sheds & stock7 min
What grain drying actually costs
What grain drying really costs in the UK: fuel per point removed, the weight the water takes with it, commercial charges, and a worked example per load.
- Sheds & stock6 min
How much grain fits in your shed?
How to work out how much grain fits in a shed: floor area, depth and bulk density, a table for common crops, and why heaped estimates flatter the tonnage.
- Sheds & stock7 min
Sampling grain properly: intake, store and dispute
How to sample grain properly at intake and in store, what buyers test for, and why labelled retained samples per load are what settle disputes months on.
- Sheds & stock7 min
Grain moisture meters: choosing and trusting one
Choosing a grain moisture meter for the farm: capacitance versus resistance types, what £100 to £700 buys, calibration drift, and the errors to avoid.
- Sheds & stock7 min
Storing oilseed rape without it heating
Why oilseed rape heats faster than cereals in store, the 7.5-8% storage moisture target, twice-weekly first-month checks, and how to keep airflow moving.
Fields & yields
Connecting loads back to fields so you can see yields, compare seasons, and spot gaps early.
- Fields & yields7 min
Average UK crop yields: wheat, barley and OSR benchmarks
Typical UK yields for wheat, barley, OSR, oats and beans in t/ha and t/acre, why the farm average hides more than it shows, and how to benchmark your own fields.
- Fields & yields7 min
UK wheat yields: averages, records and what moves them
UK winter wheat averages around 8 t/ha (3.2 t/acre) in a normal year. What separates 7 from 11 t/ha, why seasons swing it, and how to measure your own.
- Fields & yields7 min
Why one field yields more than another
Why the same fields yield well or badly year after year — water, compaction, pH, rotation and headlands — and which of the causes are actually fixable.
- Fields & yields6 min
Measuring field area: maps, apps and the cropped acre
Registered area and cropped area are not the same thing. How margins and tracks shrink the cropped acre, and why yield must divide by what you drilled.
- Fields & yields6 min
Tonnes per acre and per hectare: getting conversions right
1 hectare is 2.4711 acres, so divide t/ha by 2.4711 for t/acre. A conversion table for common yields, the classic unit mix-ups, and how bushels fit in.
- Fields & yields7 min
Specific weight: what kg/hl means and why buyers care
Specific weight is grain density in kg/hl, measured with a chondrometer. Typical minimums for wheat, barley and oats, what lowers it, and how claims work.
- Fields & yields7 min
Benchmarking your yields without kidding yourself
How to benchmark yields against national averages, your own field history and other farms — and the honesty rules that stop the comparison flattering you.
- Fields & yields6 min
Field histories that outlast staff and memory
The per-field records worth keeping each season, why field knowledge dies in one person's head or a drawer of diaries, and when the payoff arrives.
- Fields & yields7 min
Estimating yield before the combine moves
How to estimate wheat yield before combining with ear counts, grains per ear and TGW — a full worked example, honest error bars, and why it's worth doing.
Farm operations
Setting up the farm, inviting the crew, units, and the day-to-day habits that keep harvest data trustworthy.
- Farm operations9 min
Farm management software in the UK: a guide for grain farms
The UK farm software market sorted by the job each tool actually does — field records, accounts, mapping, analytics, harvest — so you buy for the gap you have.
- Farm operations7 min
Farm record keeping: what to keep and for how long
Which farm records to keep and for how long — VAT six years, spray records three-plus, assurance per the standard — plus a filing routine that holds.
- Farm operations7 min
Red Tractor combinable crops: records the audit wants
The records a Red Tractor combinable crops audit expects — store cleaning, pest monitoring, calibration, passports and traceability — and how to get ready.
- Farm operations7 min
Grain passports: what they are and how to get them right
What a grain passport is, what the AIC/TASCC combinable crops passport declares, who fills in which section, and the mistakes that get loads turned away.
- Farm operations8 min
Grain contracts: spot, forward, pools and minimum price
The four main ways UK farms sell grain — spot, forward, pools and minimum price — what each suits, where the risks hide, and why a contract register matters.
- Farm operations8 min
Selling grain in the UK: merchant, co-op or direct
How UK grain actually gets sold — merchants, co-ops and direct-to-mill — how an ex-farm quote works, where sellers get caught, and the paperwork chain.
- Farm operations8 min
UK grain prices: futures, ex-farm and why quotes differ
How UK grain prices are built — London feed wheat futures, regional basis, premiums for milling and malting — and why your quote differs from the neighbour's.
- Farm operations7 min
Grain haulage: booking lorries without the arguments
How grain collection actually works on UK farms — movement windows, being loadable, passports, weight disputes and who pays when a load is rejected.
- Farm operations7 min
Tractor and trailer weight limits on UK roads
The gross weight limits for agricultural tractors and trailers on UK roads, why heaped grain trailers are so easy to overload, and how to know your weights.
- Farm operations8 min
Grain shrinkage: where weight goes between field and sale
Why grain sold never matches grain harvested — moisture loss, screenings, handling and record gaps — what a normal 3-5% shrink looks like, and how to prove it.
- Farm operations8 min
Milling wheat specs: protein, Hagberg and specific weight
Milling wheat specification explained — protein, Hagberg Falling Number, specific weight and moisture — what each measures and what the premium is worth.
- Farm operations7 min
Malting barley specs: nitrogen, germination and moisture
Malting barley specification explained — grain nitrogen, germination, moisture and screenings — how each is won or lost, and whether the premium is worth it.
- Farm operations6 min
Who owns your farm data?
The practical questions behind farm data ownership — can you export it, what happens when the subscription lapses, and how to read a vendor's terms fast.