By Susan Sandys  January 26 2010

Methven farmer Craige Mackenzie is aiming to break a world record this harvest, for the heaviest wheat crop per hectare.

But overcast, cool and drizzly conditions are threatening his prospects.

 Mr Mackenzie farms a 200 hectare arable property, 10 hectares of which he planted in new wheat cultivar Wakanui on April 12.

 Up until two weeks ago he was confident he would be able to beat the current world record of 15.36 tonnes per hectare, held by a Southland farmer.

 “It was probably more of a possibility then than now, the crop still looks pretty good, but it just depends on the grain size and how much solar radiation we get,” Mr Mackenzie said.

 More sunshine was needed for photo-synthesis to occur in the leaves, which would feed grain size.

 The lack of sunshine was proving the biggest challenge this season.

 Until now Mr Mackenzie had been able to get around the dry months with increased irrigation.

 He was also fortunate that his farm had avoided hail damage, being located on the outskirts of a devastating hail band which ripped through Methven last month.

 He said the Wakanui cultivar was a strong, long maturing variety with good disease resistance, and a good option for irrigated farms.

 He has had plenty of experience in top performing crops.

 “We have gone close to that (world record) before, this is probably potentially a better crop but we won’t know that until we get it in the bag,” Mr Mackenzie said.

 He plans to harvest between February 15 and 20.

Pictured: Methven farmer Craige Mackenzie checks his potentially world record-breaking wheat crop.