In an age of advancing technology it is rare to see traditional farming methods especially during harvest time. Every year Moodiarrup farmer Greg Cochrane harvests wheaten chaff using the same binder and cutter his mum and dad did, only he pulls it with an old tractor instead of three horses. After binding Greg and his family manually stack conical piles called stooks before putting the sheaves into a cutter to be bagged. Greg is 82 years old and still lifts hundreds of 35kg bags of chaff at harvest time. Greg lives on his 1700 acre property and still musters his sheep on horseback. With over 100 chickens, 7 horses, 42 geese, 4 dogs , 17 cattle and 1750 sheep Greg certainly has plenty to keep him busy but he always has time for a cuppa.
* photos are a historical re-enactment *
