Pick and Write [Agricultural Word]👉#13
Threshing: Science meets Artistry
Arguably the most important part of post-harvest operations, threshing is the all important activity that changes the harvested crop from something produced on the farm into something that we can eat. Threshing is something upon which all harvest depend. Threshing is simply the process of removing the grain (which is the eatable part of the cereal) from the husk (which is a collection of scales or glumes covering the grain, also called chaff). Whilst 'thrashing' and 'threshing' are often used interchangeably it is specifically a sophisticated art practiced in agriculture which required power and care.
Traditionally threshing was a tremendously hard job requiring long hours of difficult labour. Historically the method used to thresh the crop was either by beating the harvested stalks on to a hard floor, or by use of a flail. In many areas threshing was done by treading on the crop on a special threshing floor. These traditions of communal threshing not only did threshing but they were seasonal celebrations for which friends and neighbours would get together on the harvesting floor in the autumn sun, these processes needed extreme care or the precious crop would become bruised or wasted.
In our age of advanced technology, the threshing procedure has been entirely modernized through the use of agricultural machinery. The invention of both the thresher and combine harvester dramatically reduced the time it took to perform an operation that previously took a great deal of time. In both these machines, a central cylindrical roller removes the grain from the straw by beating it and feeding it over concave sieves that allow the smaller portions of grain to sift through, leaving only the straw behind. This highly efficient operation is of extreme importance to worldwide food production and must be completed before the weather or pests cause irreparable damage to the crop.
Threshing, ultimately, is about preserving the state of food. Through successful threshing, the grain must be produced in the whole grain, in order to facilitate its preservation. Any grain damaged during the threshing stage, such as a broken or split kernel, will become more susceptible to spoil and infestation. Whether the grain is harvested through the swing of a flail, or a multi million dollar combine harvester, the task of threshing plays the critical role as the intermediary, that turns the harvested crop from the farm, to our tables. It is indeed the ultimate battle in harvesting: victory over the elements, that so embodies the farmer of today.
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