Jess Carmichael
Hey HarvestHERs!
My apologies for the lack of posts over the last few months!
Since the seeding season finished up in June, I headed back to New Zealand for the winter, and have been living and working in Christchurch for a few months. It’s been an interesting adjustment getting back to what some may call a ‘normal’ life for a while. Eight-hour days, with weekends off, may have been a bit of a novelty early on, but being in a job that is indoors all day was definitely a tough adjustment.
Though, for many of you, harvest is winding down…here in the southern hemisphere, we’re just gearing up, and I’ll be heading back to Western Australia in about a month, just in time to get into harvest life there.
In the meantime, I thought I’d share some pictures and tell you a little about my harvest experience in the UK…
THE DAIRY FARM, WARWICKSHIRE, UK
I ventured to England for my first ever harvest in June of 2015, where I worked as the harvest help on a mixed operation sheep, beef and cropping farm located near the Village of Meriden in the West Midlands of England. The Dairy Farm (as it had previously been) is run by brothers, Adam and Tom, and their families. It was Adam’s daughter, Charlie, (another awesome HarvestHER) who I ended up with the job through – my parents had worked with her on a previous English harvest. Luck had it that I arrived on the farm the day they were shearing, something I didn’t know much about, having come from a predominantly dairy farming and silage background.
The ins and outs of how shearing went may have been the first thing I learned on The Dairy Farm, but is certainly wasn’t the last. With my previous tractor driving experience having solely been rowing up grass for silage, I had a lot to learn and fast. We began harvest with barley in mid-late July, following up with canola (referred to as oil seed rape in the UK), then wheat, and finishing off on oats. Tom drove the combine, while Adam ran the grain drier and such, as well as carting grain from the combine (which was the job I also did).
Missy keeps an eye on things during my first day as a grain carters.
After growing up in NZ, navigating the narrow windy British roads with a tractor and trailer added an extra challenge, on top of becoming versed on the ins and outs of harvest life, and improving my abysmal skills where reversing a trailer was concerned, among other things. Fortunately, some very patient teaching, from both Adam and Tom, meant I finished my first harvest season a more competent operator then when I began, and had more skills which have come in handy in the harvests that have followed.
Harvesting wheat in Mountain Field.
A.FORSYTH FARMWORK
In 2016, I returned to the UK for harvest once again, this time with my Dad in tow, where we worked for a company that contract farmed and harvested for nearby farms, as well as on their own land. My Dad ran the grain drier and storage facility and I was carting grain again – this time around many aspects of the job a lot easier, having had a bit of experience and actually being able to back a trailer.
We harvested canola, wheat, and oats from mid July until early September. I was lucky enough to work with two other awesome HarvestHERs, Caroline (who carted grain with me) and Jade (who drove a combine). Whilst most of the time we worked in a team with two combines, Jade’s and John’s, and two other grain carters, Luke and Jimmy, occasionally the three of us were working together making up a full female crew.
Harvesting wheat at Broadmoor Estate.
Though both my UK harvest experiences were different in many ways, I was so lucky to work with a really amazing group of people on both my harvests. Getting to meet awesome new people is one of my favorite parts of travelling the world to harvest, and I’m so thankful to have had such a fantastic experience!
Some of my amazing 2016 harvest family. From left to right: James, myself, Caroline, Jackie (our wonderful harvest Mum), Edward, my Dad (Tony), and Luke.
After having now also harvested in Australia, it has been interesting to see how different the harvest experience is in both countries. Though the sheer amount of hectares we harvest in Australia is a lot more, the yields in the UK were much higher, with the farming conditions being very different. With the roads being much wider, and there being far more limited traffic, it was also a change not to have to have an escort vehicle and be stopping traffic to get the combines through, which had to be done in England.
Traffic jam in rural England – From this picture you get a bit of an idea how narrow some of the roads we travelled were, some were smaller still.
Well, until next time… will be back with proper harvest updates soon – can’t wait!
Take care all 🙂
Definition of a HarvestHER - a strong woman willing to do whatever it takes to get the harvest in. She must have these qualities:
1. Be ready to go at the drop of a hat...sometimes without a lunchbox.
2. Has removed the word impossible from her vocabulary!
3. Can hold a baby, take care of a toddler and drive a tractor or combine all at the same time.
4. Must be able to cook for a crew - large or small.
5. Must be able to read minds.
6. Must be able to banter with a parts man until he realizes you DO know what you're talking about.
7. Must be the entertainment director for those rainy days.
8. Be a wife, mom, friend, helper, cook, problem solver, taxi driver or extra crew hand at all times.
9. Can handle the call that makes you react, "You need what? When?" Dropping everything you're doing to make it happen.
10. At the end of the day say, "I really do love this life".
1. Be ready to go at the drop of a hat...sometimes without a lunchbox.
2. Has removed the word impossible from her vocabulary!
3. Can hold a baby, take care of a toddler and drive a tractor or combine all at the same time.
4. Must be able to cook for a crew - large or small.
5. Must be able to read minds.
6. Must be able to banter with a parts man until he realizes you DO know what you're talking about.
7. Must be the entertainment director for those rainy days.
8. Be a wife, mom, friend, helper, cook, problem solver, taxi driver or extra crew hand at all times.
9. Can handle the call that makes you react, "You need what? When?" Dropping everything you're doing to make it happen.
10. At the end of the day say, "I really do love this life".
Latest posts by HarvestHER (see all)
