Despite 2026 presenting one of the driest growing seasons in recent years, a Norfolk farming estate has achieved its highest oilseed rape yield of the year on land where William Morfoot Ltd completed targeted land drainage improvements during 2025.
The project formed part of the estate’s long-term commitment to investing in land drainage as a means of improving both crop performance and field resilience. Rather than installing drainage across entire fields, the objective was to identify and target those areas which had consistently underperformed over a number of years.
Historic yield data highlighted fields where production had remained well below expectation season after season. These poorer-performing areas were also characterised by inconsistent crop establishment, uneven crop development and ripening, a limited response to fertiliser and crop protection inputs, and prolonged periods of waterlogging during wetter seasons. In particularly wet years, these fields also took significantly longer to dry out, delaying machinery access and impacting vital field operations.
William Morfoot Ltd was commissioned to undertake a comprehensive field survey before developing a bespoke drainage design. The work involved carefully identifying and integrating the existing historic land drainage infrastructure into the new scheme, while combining detailed topographical survey information, site assessment data and historic yield maps to accurately pinpoint the areas where investment would deliver the greatest benefit.
The results are now beginning to demonstrate the value of that approach.
This week, the farm harvested the current oilseed rape crop from the improved land, achieving an average yield of 4.7 tonnes per hectare — the highest oilseed rape yield recorded anywhere on the estate during the 2026 harvest.
What makes the result particularly encouraging is that it has been achieved during a year dominated by prolonged dry weather. While land drainage is often associated solely with removing excess water, well-designed drainage systems also help improve soil structure, rooting depth and the movement of both air and water through the soil. These factors allow crops to establish stronger root systems and become significantly more resilient when growing conditions become challenging.
The project is another example of how carefully targeted drainage investment, supported by good data and thoughtful design, can deliver measurable improvements in crop performance and farm productivity.
At William Morfoot Ltd, every drainage scheme is designed around the individual characteristics of each field. By combining detailed surveys, historic drainage records, topographical information, agronomic observations and precision farming data, our team is able to focus investment where it will generate the greatest return.
As harvest continues across the country, it is particularly pleasing to see tangible evidence that strategic drainage investment can continue to deliver exceptional results—even during one of the driest growing seasons in recent memory.