At about 5:00pm the silence was shattered and I looked out to see the arrival of a huge green John Deere Combine Harvester, much bigger than last years one, and a couple of tractors and large trailers. I immediately downed tools for the day, fetched my camera and rushed outside to watch from my comfy seat on the fence.
It didn't take very long to attach the boom to the Combine and off they went. A couple of years ago I managed to get a ride on the smaller Combine and I was hoping to have the opportunity to hop on board once again.
Once the Combine started its first lap the two tractor drivers were chatting nearby and one of them came over to say hello:
"...wheat will probably be used for bread making..."
I asked him how long it would take to cut the field and he said that they wouldn’t be able to finish it completely that day as the grain store in Shrewton closes at 6:30pm and they wouldn’t be able to get there & back in enough time to finish. He then went on to say that the wheat is ready early this year and it should be a very good crop. The most you can expect is 5 tonnes per acre and he thought they would get very close to that this year. The wheat will probably be used for making bread but that really depends on its quality which they’ll find out after testing.
Had to rescue the cat from the field - he can't help being curious!
The guys who are now working the land have 3,500 acres dotted around the local area including 200 acres of arable land here in Norton Bavant. The Combine Harvester came all the way from Tisbury which was apparently a 2 hour journey, interestingly, all farm machinery including tractors are required to find a place to pull over once 5 cars are queuing behind them. Obviously it may take a while for them to find somewhere suitable. For example, when one of the loads of Oil Seed Rape was transported back to Tisbury the farmer thought he had about a mile of traffic backed up behind him because there wasn’t anywhere to pull over on the A350 from Longbridge Deverill until he had reached the top. With a full load the tractor isn’t able to get up much speed although when empty, tractors can travel at 50mph with a trailer, as long as the trailer has airbrakes.
"...there is quite a competitive market for straw..."
Once the wheat has been harvested the grain will go to Shrewton and the lying straw will be baled. Apparently there is quite a competitive market for straw nowadays and in lots of cases it will be sold at auction after inspection.
Next year all the fields around Norton Bavant that are Wheat will be Oil Seed Rape so 2011 will be another yellow year. By all accounts this year’s crop of Oil Seed Rape hasn’t been that good because of the weather it was late getting going and didn’t have the opportunity to put down good roots.
The farmer then had to disappear into his tractor to catch up with the Combine Harvester to start filling the trailer. It wasn’t long before the weather changed and it began to rain hence we have a half cut field and we’ll have to wait for the weather to change before it can be completed.
Hope you enjoy the photos above – more pictures are available in the Gallery.
Signing off: your Roving Reporter from South of the Village, Jasper
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