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Prepare for harvest:
Harvest
begins in July with the first crops to be cut being oilseed rape and winter
barley. Prior to this the combine harvester has to be made ready. It is serviced
and checked over with any replacement parts bought and fitted. Also, the grain
storage buildings have to be cleaned down. All the dust and odd grains from
the previous crop has to be swept or hoovered. The shed is then treated to
kill any insects that are present. These are harmful because they can eat
the grain if it is incorrectly dried. The store is inspected annually to check
that it is up to standards required by the assurance scheme to which the college
belongs.
Harvesting starts:
Harvesting
begins with winter barley and oilseed rape. The barley is cut with the combine
harvester, which threshes the grains from the ear and drops the straw out
of the back as it goes along. The grain is then transported to the store using
large trailers. The grain should be dry otherwise it will go mouldy and hot
when it is put into the storage shed. A good sample of barley should be stored
when it contains no more than 15% moisture and it should be cool. The combine
will cut around 20 – 30 hectares of land per day, depending on the weather,
which must be dry. Usually harvesting goes on well into the evening or maybe
the night if the weather is unreliable. As soon as the straw is dry, it is
baled up into either big round bales or large square bales which weigh around
1/3 tonne each. These are loaded onto trailers to be transported to the areas
of the farm where the cattle will spend the winter. They will then be used
for bedding, once the livestock are brought indoors.
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