Winner named in Farmers Weekly cover competition

Steve Rowland has been named the winner of the 2012 Farmers Weekly harvest front cover competition.


It is a double triumph for combine driver Steve, who also won the competition back in 2009.


He is our winner again because of his unusual composition. We liked the way he managed to frame the combine working in the distance using the reel and table of his own machine.


Given the difficult season many farmers have faced, the choice of this picture in particular is also fitting. Mr Rowland said he was only in position to take the photo on his iPhone after he was forced to stop to clear mud from the knife of the header.


“The field was particularly wet and both combines had been bogged down but not quite stuck,” he said. “We had to leave about four acres of the steepest bit of the field as it was too wet to travel.”


Mr Rowland, who works for contractor Phil Strout from Launceston, Cornwall, said that both the New Holland CR9060 and TX64 have had to have the chains on them this season in order to pull them free. “I can honestly say I have never had another season like the one we are having.”


Runners up in the competition were Mick Vardy from Northumberland and Simon Gruszeckyjj from Warwickshire.


Mick captured the essence of harvest 2012 with this shot of Claas Lexion 580 working under threatening black skies in the village of Bingfield, Northumberland.


Harvest Highlights Mick Vardy


Simon, who has been a regular contributor to the Harvest highlights gallery this year, produced this well-composed shot of a New Holland combine working in Old Milverton, near Leamington Spa.


Harvest Highlights shot Simon


Although our front cover competition is now closed we will still aim to print more of your harvest pictures in Farmers Weekly over the next couple of weeks.


Many of you are still working hard to gather in this year’s crops keep sending in your photos to fwipictures@rbico.uk or by uploading them direct to the Harvest Highlights Gallery.


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