Crops have been harvested by hand throughout most of human history.

Hay bales after the mechanical harvesting of a field in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

In agriculture, harvesting is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the harvesting of grain crops. The harvest marks the end of the growing season, or the growing cycle for a particular crop. Harvesting in general usage includes the immediate post-harvest handling, all of the actions taken immediately after physically removing the crop—cooling, sorting, cleaning, packing—up to the point of further on-farm processing, or shipping to the wholesale or consumer market. Image File history File linksMetadata Manual_harvest_in_Tirumayam. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Manual_harvest_in_Tirumayam. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (3008x2000, 2740 KB) Hay Bales at Harvest in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (3008x2000, 2740 KB) Hay Bales at Harvest in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. ... Hay is dried grass or legumes cut and used for animal feed. ... A round baler A baler is a piece of farm machinery that is used to compress a cut, raked, crop (such as hay or straw) into bales and bind the bales with twine. ... A gathering is a group of people or things. ... A crop is any plant that is grown in significant quantities to be harvested as food, livestock fodder, or for another economic purpose. ... A green field or paddock In agriculture, a field refers generally to an area of land enclosed or otherwise and used for agricultural purposes such as: Cultivating crops Usage as a paddock or generally an enclosure of livestock Land left to lie fallow or as arable land See also Pasture... In agriculture, post-harvest handling is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest, including cooling, cleaning, sorting and packing. ...

Harvest timing is a critical decision, that balances the likely weather conditions with the degree of crop maturity. Weather conditions such as frost, and unseasonably warm or cold periods, can affect yield and quality. An earlier harvest date may avoid damaging conditions, but result in poorer yield and quality. Delaying harvest may result in a better harvest, but increases the risk of weather problems. Timing of the harvest often involves a significant degree of gambling. Weather is a term that encompasses phenomena in the atmosphere of a planet. ... Frost on black pipes Frost is a solid deposition of water vapor from saturated air. ... Yield may mean: In economics, yield is a measure of the amount of income an investment generates over time (related to return on investment). ... For other uses, see Risk (disambiguation). ... Gambling or Gaming [1] has had many different meanings depending on the cultural and historical context in which it is used. ...

On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-intensive activity of the growing season. On large, mechanized farms, harvesting utilizes the most expensive and sophisticated farm machinery, like the combine harvester. A typical North American grain farm with farmstead in Ontario, Canada A farm is the basic unit in agriculture. ... Mechanization is the use of machines to replace manual labour or animals and can also refer to the use of powered machinery to help a human operator in some task. ... Agricultural machinery is one of the most revolutionary and impactful applications of modern technology. ... A postage stamp of a combine honors Russian agriculture. ...

Harvest commonly refers to grain and produce, but is used in reference to fish and timber. The term harvest is also used within the context of irrigation where water harvesting is referred to as the collection and run-off of rainwater for agricultural or domestic uses. This article is about cereals in general. ... A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium Fish are aquatic vertebrates that are typically cold-blooded; covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. ... Timber in storage for later processing at a sawmill Timber is a term used to describe wood, either standing or that has been processed for use—from the time trees are felled, to its end product as a material suitable for industrial use—as structural material for construction or wood... High-altitude aerial view of irrigation in the Heart of the Sahara ( ) Irrigation is the replacement or supplementation of rainfall with water from another source in order to grow crops or plants. ...

Before the 16th century Harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season Autumn. However as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns (especially those who could read and write, the only people whose use of language we now know), the word became to refer to the actual activity of reaping, rather than the time of year, and the terms Fall and Autumn began to replace it.

See also

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Harvest

• Winnowing
• Threshing