Tom Bradshaw runs Green Hill Farm, a 400-acre farm in Yorkshire, England. He grows wheat, barley, and oats, and has worked the land for over twenty years. On a normal day, Tom usually gets up at 5:30am and checks the weather forecast before he does anything else. He always has breakfast with his wife, Helen, before going out to the fields — it is a routine they both treasure.
In summer, Tom normally finishes work by 7pm. He walks the fields every evening to see how the crops are growing, and he often says that farming is the best job in the world. He meets his neighbours at the local market every Saturday morning, and at the weekend the farm feels calm and unhurried.
But right now, everything is different. It is September — harvest time — and Tom is getting up at 4am every morning. The fields need constant attention, and Tom is working until 10pm every night. He looks tired but determined when I meet him beside his tractor.
This week, three extra workers are helping him bring in the harvest. The combine harvester is running from sunrise to sunset, cutting through the golden wheat fields. Tom and Helen are not eating dinner together at the moment — he is always still out in the fields when she sits down to eat.
The UK wheat harvest is a critical time for British farmers. Most years, farmers have only a narrow window of dry weather to cut their crops. A single week of heavy rain can ruin months of careful work.
"Harvest is exhausting," Tom tells me, pulling off his cap and wiping his forehead. "Every muscle aches. But when you see those fields cut clean and the grain in the store, it is the best feeling in the world. I would not swap it for anything." He smiles, glances back at the harvester, and walks back to work.