Combines harvest world record in 15 minutes

THE sight of 175 combine harvesters moving in four separate lines across Gerry Curran’s huge tillage field at Platin, near Duleek, Co Meath, was awesome.

All were on a mission to set a new world record for the most combines working in the one field at the same time and raise €200,000 for four charities in the process.

With a mighty roar, they cut some 400 tonnes of winter wheat within 15 minutes in the field big enough to hold 20 football pitches.

More than 10,000 people urged on the tillage farmers, agricultural contractors and machinery dealers as they completed the task.

Katie Forde was there to confirm for the Guinness Book of Records that the Duleek deployment of combines had smashed the existing record by more than three times.

That previous record was 56 combines, set in Australia in 2003.

Katie Forde said: “I counted the combines as they went into the field and I got the opportunity of doing a second count from a helicopter. I observed that they were all working.

“It was pretty straightforward from my point of view,” she said, praising the organisers.

Some 100 acres of the sprawling field was devoted to the challenge, which had FBD Insurance as main sponsor, with another 40 acres taken up by side shows and entertainment.

Barnardos, the Gary Kelly Cancer Support Centre (Drogheda), the National Rehabilitation Hospital and Self Help Africa will benefit from the proceeds.

The initiative was that of a group of cereal farmers in the north east.

Each combine participant raised €1,000 and the rest of the money came from gate receipts. The target of €200,000 is expected to be exceeded.

Philip Brady, who came up with the idea after learning about the Australian record on YouTube, said: “The world record was stuck on 56 combines for a long time. But now we have more than trebled the number. I can’t believe it.”