Harvest photography competition 2020: Winner and runners-up

Thanks to everyone who entered the Harvest 2020 photography competition.

We had hundreds of entries and the winning shot appears on the cover of the 18 September issue of Farmers Weekly.

Your pictures showed this summer’s harvest in all its guises – the high points, the low points, the successes and the frustrations.

Here is the winner and a selection of the other images that wowed.

Winner

Alistair Needham

The top image was taken by Alistair Needham and shows the first day in the wheat on R&A Needham Farms in north- east Lincolnshire.

Alistair, who was corn-carting at the time, submitted the picture because he felt the combination of blue sky and clouds summed up harvest 2020.

First wheat has yielded above typical levels, with winter barley about average and oilseed rape below what he would normally expect at the farm, which is also home to the Cockerington Poll Charolais herd.

“Because we’re a mixed farm, we aim to get drilled by 10 October because we have a lot of work to do from that point on as the cattle come in.

“We got nearly all the first wheats in before the rain started last year, and we did get everything drilled last year in the end.

“That field was running particularly well – it finished at an average of 11.8t/ha.

“I enjoy taking photos and videos, especially of the cattle for our Facebook page,” says Alistair, whose family have been at the farm since 1890.

“At the moment I took this picture, the light was just right for some great colours – the sky was blue, the hedges were green and the crop was yellow.”

Runners-up

Luke Amos

Luke captured this image of combining spring barley at the end of August on the Fasque Castle Estate, near Fettercairn in Aberdeenshire.

“I am a farm machinery fanatic and couldn’t miss the opportunity to get some photos of the estate’s impressive harvest machinery,” he says.

“Although I am not directly connected to the estate, I have always been around farming with my dad who currently works on a dairy farm.”

Kim Simkins

Kim Simkins, who lives on a mixed farm on the Hertfordshire/Buckinghamshire border with partner Jeremy, took this picture.

“All my photos are taken with a little Sony Cyber-Shot that cost £150, and I keep it in my pocket as I walk round to capture anything that takes my eye,” says Kim.

“The photograph was taken from the road looking back into one of the fields. I loved the way the hedges and trees framed the shot and the contrasting colours – Jeremy is in the tractor collecting the grain. For me, it just epitomises what harvest is about.”

Highly commended

Alistair Birkett

A beautiful harvest moon after a long day cutting wheat in north Northumberland – as seen through the lens of Alistair Birkett.

Elise Thomas

This shot came from 14-year-old Elise Thomas. She says it shows her “brilliant stepdad working hard combining before all the wet weather”. Elise adds: “I am still learning new skills with my camera, but I really like this shot as the lighting is nice.”

Charlie Carter

“Agriculture and photography go hand-in-hand,” says Charlie Carter who took this shot near West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. It shows harvest underway at Kensham Farms, with the well-known landmark of the Mausoleum and Golden Ball in the background.

Derek Bell

Derek Bell submitted this shot showing combining in full swing at Hallington in Lincolnshire.