When Is Rice Ready for the Harvester, and How to Prepare

When booking a harvester, consider the crop’s condition together with your readiness to transport and dry it. Preparing information before harvest day helps farm owners and contractors plan together.

Check grain maturity together with moisture

IRRI’s general guidance is that grain moisture at harvest should be around 20–25%, with about 80–85% of the grains in the panicle turned straw-colored or yellow. Use these figures together with the rice variety and field conditions, check several spots, and use a suitable moisture meter.

Check that the field is ready

Check access routes, bunds, turning points, soft ground and obstacles. Tell the driver where posts, pipes or hard-to-see hazards are, and arrange suitable water management before the machine goes in.

Prepare for post-harvest handling

Coordinate trucks, buying points, drying yards or dryers with your harvesting capacity. Grain harvested at the right moisture still can’t be stored for long without drying, so plan to move it on quickly.

As harvest day approaches, inspect the field again with the contractor, especially after rain or if the crop has changed, and clearly share the field size, any lodged rice and the grain unloading point.