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Photo of the week: Barley harvest starts in weather window

Photo of the week: Barley harvest starts in weather window

New to our new Harvest 2024 gallery is this dramatic image of the barley harvest in Cambridgeshire.

We like it because it sums up the harvest so far: a backdrop of stormy skies, but in between the rain showers a chance to bring in the harvest.

The photo was taken by TractorToddler and shows the winter barley harvest at Parker Farms in Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire.

See more: Share your harvest photos and videos

If you like to follow influential farmers on social media, you may have already discovered TractorToddler. This is a popular account where you can follow two young boys as they indulge their love of farm machinery.

The boys, now aged five and three, live on the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border and have been tractor spotting since 2020, when the family was restricted to their own area.

The account is managed by the boys’ parents, who wish to remain anonymous.

They said Farmers Weekly: “Combines have always been their favorite, and we saw 27 harvests in 2020, 56 in 2021, 71 in 2022 and 101 in 2023.

“We apparently want to break the record this year, in terms of school, work and of course the weather.

“We don’t have a background in farming, but after making some friends with local farmers when we kept showing up, they suggested we post our photos online. This led to me setting up TractorToddler on Instagram in 2021.

“(We) now also post on Facebook, TikTok and YouTube and have built a small but loyal local following, which means we often get messages with invites or tips.

“I have always been impressed by how enthusiastically the farming community responds to the boys’ interest. They are truly lucky and very keen to pursue a career in farming!

“I also learned a tremendous amount by trying to stay ahead of some very curious guys.”


Upload your photos to our Harvest gallery for a chance to have your photo on the cover of Farmers Weekly magazine. Only photos from this year, please!

Parker Farms Barley Harvest

© TractorToddler