Monday, September 7, 2015

Harvest Time

We're half-way through the farm harvest season here, with hay, wheat and barley all gathered in, while corn and soybeans are yet to come.  It makes for an interesting farm landscape to drive around and see the progress farmers are making.

The main hay crop was cut and baled nearly two months ago, long rows of wrapped haybales waiting to feed cattle in the winter.

More recently the wheat harvest has been in full swing, and is just about over.  The wheat is combined and the grain taken off for market, while the straw is left in the sun to dry.

Then the straw is baled for use as bedding, or sale to horse farms and racetracks.

There was another huge flock of Ring-billed Gulls in that field, even bigger than the one I saw last week, easily 200 birds here.

On the other hand, this is a field of oats, almost completely flattened by the heavy rains we had two weeks ago.  Every field of oats I was aware of was flattened by heavy rains, almost a complete loss.

 Just a few stalks of oats left in patches and on the edge of the field.
This is a second cut of hay.  The first cut in July is mostly grass, but the second cut is mostly the under-layer of alfalfa.

And these are second-cut haybales, much greener than the bright golden bales of wheat straw (and much more nutritious for cattle).  When I was taking this picture a bright yellow pickup screamed to a halt beside me, and it turned out to be the farmer, who I knew; we had a nice chat.

Still to be harvested are the soybeans, though they're rapidly turning yellow.

And of course the corn, which is usually the last crop gathered in, often very late in the fall.  And that's our farm landscape in early September.

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17 comments:

  1. Rural Southern Ontario is certainly a beautiful area many of us are fortunate enough to live in.

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  2. That's a great crop report from Ontario.

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  3. Greetings from Dubai! Enjoyed going through your post. Have a great week ahead! Will be back soon...

    Shantana

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  4. The pastoral scenes are therapeutic.

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  5. I used to love this time of year when I worked on a farm: I like it even better now that someone else has to do the heavy lifting. Your shots transport me back to those days.

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  6. Love the shots. Really good compositions.

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  7. Love the pictures. Makes me hungry for breakfast, for some reason. :-)

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  8. I remember the days as a kid on our farm this time of year just up in Caledon Ontario were I was raised with the first day back to school and chores after . Same thing going on down here at the farms in our area of south western Ontario near lake Erie . We have lots of farm land this way and I love seeing and hearing it all and the smell of the hay fields is wonderful . Farmers here have their stands out all over selling their goods . We have a large Amish community here as well and I love seeing them and their horses in the fields this time of year to ! Wonderful photos , Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !

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  9. I never cease to be amazed at how you can take events that I take for granted and would probably think of as mundane and turn them into an interesting and informative narrative. To make a startling occurrence exciting is easy, to take the every day rhythm of life and make it interesting - that takes skill.

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  10. These shots bring me back to childhood, and the farms near where I lived.

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  11. I love farm landscapes. Once upon a time we had more hayfields in our county. Many have given way to development.
    Take 25 to Hollister

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  12. I love seeing the rolled hay in the field. I always take pictures of it too. : )

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  13. sights that will never be boring to me! brings back so many great summer memories. There was work too, but playing in such fields was fun too. And the smell of fresh cut hay is still one of my favourites.

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  14. What a gorgeous farm you have. I love the pictures of the rolling fields. I grew up on a farm and it always brings me back to the early mornings and long summer afternoons. I miss that place. I would love to have one of my own someday but I know a lot of responsibility comes along with keeping one.

    Heidi Sutton @ Ag Source Magazine

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