Skip to main content

Story: Arable farming

Harvesting wheat

Video file

In 1950 this header harvester was state-of-the-art technology in New Zealand. However, harvesting and bagging wheat was a three-person task, followed by collecting bags and transporting them to storage. Later, larger harvesters and a bulk handling system allowed two workers to do the same job and faster.

Using this item

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Canterbury is a Hundred. National Film Unit, 1950

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Sue Zydenbos, Arable farming – Harvesting, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/17598/harvesting-wheat (accessed 20 June 2026).

Story by Sue Zydenbos, published 1 March 2009.