Crop harvesting

Management Activity

The term harvesting has been used to describe all methods of crop collection, ranging from labour-intensive hand picking through to mechanized harvesting.  The impacts of harvesting will vary depending on the method used.

The direct impacts of crop harvesting may include:

• Soil nutrient loss 
• Reduced ground cover 
• Reduced canopy cover 
• Increased soil acidity 

The use of heavy machinery during harvesting may result in:

• Increased soil compaction
• Increased greenhouse gas emissions

Last updated 7 September 2010

Land Manager's Monitoring Guide

• Monitoring overview
• Selecting indicators
• - Enterprise or production systems
• - Land practices
• - Management activity
• - Impact
• Indicators