Straw Harvest

Short film of binding in the field at harvest time 2009

Ripe Field of Straw

The straw is ready to be cut when the wheat is slightly green on the stem. Cutting at the correct time is really important as it keeps the strength in the straw and therefore it lasts for longer on the roof.

Binding

Binding is a two person job as one must drive the tractor and one operate the binder. The levers on the binder move the cutting blades up and down so that straw can be cut on uneven ground. The straw travels up the conveyer belts and is tied and dropped as the binder moves around the field.

Stooking

The bundles of straw are then stood up in the field by teams of two people who must work together standing groups of eight sheaves. These are left in the field to dry which can take between 1-3 weeks depending on the weather.

Carting

Carting in the straw is one of the hardest parts of harvest as every sheaf has to be moved by hand from the field onto a trailer. Everyone must work really long days incase the weather changes as rain means waiting for the straw to dry out again before it can be brought in.

Stacking

One team works as stack builders during carting in. They must be skilled in stack building or the stack can collapse or be ruined by rain. An elevator (as seen in this picture) is used once the stack is above approximately 9ft high as using a pitchfork becomes back breaking work. A large tarpaulin is finally tied over the top of the stack to keep the rain off and allow the straw to fully dry out ready for threshing.

Threshing

Threshing is ideally carried out several months after harvest as by this time the wheat will be fully dried out. Threshing removes the wheat from the head leaving the straw undamaged unlike modern combine harvesters. The threshing drum is powered by a tractor and runs using a system of canvas belts. During threshing the original stack is taken down and a new stack is built on the other side of the drum. The team of people is usually at least 7 strong.

By the time the straw goes on the roof it will have
been individually handled about 10 times!