Drying Time

Twelve-year-old Ben Padwick lives on a farm near Leicester, owned by The Co-operative Group and managed by his dad. He keeps a regular diary for First News of life on his family’s farm.

The wheat harvest is still going on here and the stores are starting to look like they’re going to burst!

The driers are going all the time, day and night, because the wheat needs to be dried. The driers heat the wheat and this reduces the moisture content to 14%. The wheat needs to be this dry in order for us to be able to store it for up to nine months in a good condition.

It’s just the winter beans to be dried after the wheat. These are a hard bean, about 1.5cm by 1.5cm. They are mainly used for animal feed but, if the quality is good, they can be exported for humans to eat. I always know when the beans are being dried because they rattle so much in the drier.

Most people think harvest is the busiest time but following harvest comes all the cultivations and drilling (sowing) of next year’s crop and this is well under way with the 2011 oilseed rape being drilled right now!