Jake Freestone of Overbury Farms, Worcestershire, had the first trial of John Deere’s newest and largest combine, the S690i. “We jumped at the chance to try the new machine and give her a work-out,” he said. “The header was a whopping 35ft with belts presenting the crop to the combine very uniformly and the forward speed was 5-6kph. The output was amazing.”

John Kennedy from Ballywalter, Co Down, Northern Ireland, combining Saffron winter barley on 1 August on the east coast of the Ards Peninsula looking over to Scotland. “The weather has been very mixed, however we did get a few good sunny days to cut the barley, with yields coming in at just over 7.4t/ha (3t/acre), with excellent straw yields,” said Mr Kennedy. “The barley this year is a couple of weeks later than usual.”

“This captures what is becoming an extremely catchy campaign,” said Nick Davidson of Clola Farms near Mintlaw in Aberdeenshire. It shows a 10ha (25-acre) field of Cracker oilseed rape. Mr Davidson took the chance to have all the combines that the contactor had available – turned out to be a wise decision as they finished cutting the rape just ahead of torrential rain. The crop moisture was 20%, but it would be a lot wetter if they’d left it and done it another day, he said.

Matthew Campling with his son, Owen, at Mortimer, Berkshire, where Gallant winter wheat was being cut. “The picture was taken after rain stopped play – although harvest is going well,” said contractor Mr Campling. “My son loves any large farm equipment,” he added.

This was one of the few places where any corn was cut on the day this picture was taken, said Bob Ranger. It was a scene he captured at a “Victorian harvest day” at Newbridge in Cornwall. Despite the weather, the trusty Albion Binder managed to keep going. “I’m not sure of the yield or moisture content as the computer was not working,” he joked. “The straw length looked good, though.”

View all the pictures in our Harvest Highlights gallery and add your own.