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Story: Marlborough region

Harvesting oats

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Harvesting oats

Oats were a favoured crop on smallholdings in the lower Awatere and Wairau valleys in the early 20th century. They were grown partly to feed horses, so the area planted in oats reduced in the mid-20th century as horses gave way to motor vehicles. This is a harvested oat field near Seddon, Marlborough, about 1915.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Agriculture Department Collection

Reference: 1/1-007604-G

by Arthur John McCusker

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Malcolm McKinnon, Marlborough region – Grazing and farming, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/31768/harvesting-oats (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, published 9 May 2011, updated 1 November 2016.