What a farmer does at harvest time.

Harvest 2017 is well and truly under way.  

The Barley and vetch are off the paddock and in the silo, and we are starting on the wheat with one paddock stripped.

Aside from driving the header (the machinery that harvests the crop) my husband also carts the grain to our on farm silo's in the old truck, climbs up and down the 30 foot silos, opening and closing lids and making sure they don't overflow with grain, shovelling up the spilt grain when it overflows, fixing any machinery that breaks down, negotiating grain prices with buyers and co-ordinating freight of the grain sold.

But what do I do during harvest? 

Apart from my everyday chores I also shepherd the machinery when we shift paddocks, I am on call to help drive my husband from one piece of machinery to another (to save him a long walk through the paddock), I pick up parts when we have a breakdown and I keep the house and farm running.

I also deliver meals to my husband on the header.  During harvest we don't see him as much, he starts work at 8am and doesn't return home until after our daughters bedtime.  So at harvest we take our meals to the header and have a picnic with Daddy while he works.

Today we are hoping for not as much rain as the bureau have predicted (20-40mm predicted with thunderstorms). We would love the rain, but not right now.  We are busily trying to empty the in paddock storage and filling and closing silo's. 

Wishing everyone a safe and bountiful harvest

Ann
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