{"id":289066,"date":"2025-11-16T21:56:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T21:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/289066\/"},"modified":"2025-11-16T21:56:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T21:56:13","slug":"farmers-count-down-their-favourite-music-in-harvest-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/289066\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmers count down their favourite music in Harvest 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

Move over Hottest 100 \u2014 farmers have their own annual music poll to count down their top songs while counting down the long hours behind the wheel harvesting crops.<\/p>\n

Farmers and agricultural workers can work 12 or 15-hour days without much of a break as they race to harvest the crop while it is in peak condition.<\/p>\n

That optimal window means the job needs to be done and dusted before rain comes, which can temporarily stop harvest and reduce crop quality.<\/p>\n

\"Harvester<\/p>\n

Harvesting is a race against time and weather. (ABC News: Tim Lee)<\/p>\n

Farmer Sally Zacher, on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, starts her day early, and she can still be going at 3am.<\/p>\n

“If the weather’s right, you just keep going,” she said.<\/p>\n

“As long as you’ve got storage, you just go.”<\/p>\n

Under such manic pressure, it is important for farmers to have something to keep them going.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year, for the farmers who voted for their favourite songs in the Harvest 100, that something was overwhelmingly a 1980s Aussie classic.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Jimmy Barnes’s Working Class Man claimed the number one spot in the annual song countdown, which is run by South Australia’s grain industry.<\/p>\n

It is a fitting choice for the poll, with many farmers struggling to get a crop out of the ground after two consecutive years of drought<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aussie legend a farmer favourite<\/p>\n

Now in its fourth year, the Harvest 100 music poll was started by a South Australian organisation for SA farmers, but farmers around the country are encouraged to take part.<\/p>\n

\"Jimmy<\/p>\n

Barnes attributes his strong resolve to his tough upbringing. (ABC News: Luke Rosen)<\/p>\n

The man behind the winning song, Jimmy Barnes, was pleased to top the poll, as the song was written in tribute to hard-working people like Australian farmers.<\/p>\n

“We’re so thrilled to hear the farmers voted Working Class Man top of their Harvest 100 playlist this year,” Barnes said.<\/p>\n

“This is a song written about my audience, for people just like you farmers \u2014 people who work hard, people who strive to make a living and feed their families, and then on the weekend, maybe they might kick their heels up occasionally and come out and see a band play or listen to music at home.”<\/p>\n

It is the second time Barnes has won the countdown \u2014 taking top spot in the inaugural Harvest 100 in 2022 with Driving Wheels.<\/p>\n

Organised by Grain Producers SA (GPSA), the vote was devised as a fun way to bring the harvesting community together and celebrate another hard year of work.<\/p>\n

GPSA chief executive Brad Perry said the winning song was a fitting choice, given the conditions farmers had again endured across much of the state.<\/p>\n

“I think it reflects that it has been a hard slog this year,” Mr Perry said.Harvest 100 2025 top 10 songs:<\/p>\n

Working Class Man by Jimmy Barnes<\/p>\n

When It Rains It Pours by Luke Combs<\/p>\n

Copperhead Road by Steve Earle<\/p>\n

The Best by Tina Turner<\/p>\n

Oklahoma Smokeshow by Zach Bryan<\/p>\n

Livin’ On A Prayer by Bon Jovi<\/p>\n

The Gambler by Kenny Rogers<\/p>\n

Take It Easy by the Eagles<\/p>\n

Great Southern Land by Icehouse<\/p>\n

Mr. Brightside by The Killers<\/p>\n

And just like there are many different types of farmers, the countdown this year is an eclectic mix that has been pulled together in an online playlist.<\/p>\n

\"Brad<\/p>\n

Brad Perry says he looks forward to the results of the playlist each year. (Supplied: Grain Producers SA)<\/p>\n

“You can fire this on when you jump on the header and it’ll give you hours of enjoyment,” Mr Perry said.<\/p>\n

“If you like anything from 80s country, rock, you name it.<\/p>\n

“There’s some modern songs in there, and even a couple of real classics that I probably didn’t expect to make the cut \u2026 and, of course, a couple of really strong country songs.”<\/p>\n

Having a ‘boogie’ in the tractor<\/p>\n

Ms Zacher said she looked forward to the countdown each year, which she alternated with ABC Radio to alleviate boredom.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sally Zacher farms at Lock on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

“When it’s getting late or when I’m bit sick of it [harvesting], I’ll put on Spotify and put on some music,” Ms Zacher said.<\/p>\n

“I quite enjoy it [the Harvest 100], it’s just such a total variety of music.<\/p>\n

“It would be quite hilarious seeing me in the cab sometimes, because if a decent tune comes on, I do get a good boogie on, and yes, singing to the top of my voice.”\"A<\/p>\n

South Australian farmers have had a slow start to harvest this year due to seasonal conditions. (ABC News: Carl Saville)<\/p>\n

Ms Zacher said it was a great feeling to get a shout-out by Jimmy Barnes during harvest this season, as his music has helped her through some long hours sitting in the chaser bin.<\/p>\n

“His music is iconic,” she said.<\/p>\n

Slow start to SA harvest<\/p>\n

SA’s grain production this year is estimated at 8.5 million tonnes \u2014 higher than last year, but still below the five-year average after some regions missed rain during key growing times.<\/p>\n

While parts of the state have started harvesting, most areas will have to wait a bit longer before pressing play on the Harvest 100 playlist.<\/p>\n

\"Wide<\/p>\n

Colourful canola crops are expected to make good returns this season. (ABC South East SA: Elsie Adamo)<\/p>\n

Elders Naracoorte agronomist Adam Hancock explained timing could be so variable across SA because of the different weather and soil conditions, and most had a delayed start to the season due to a late “break” of rain.<\/p>\n

“The further south you go, the more rain you get. A big part of it is also temperature,” Mr Hancock said.<\/p>\n

“For every hour you drive further north, the 30-day average temperature might be 1 degree warmer, and that really accelerates plant growth and development \u2026 you go through the growth stage quicker and you get to harvest quicker.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Agricultural workers spend long stretches on headers or in tractors during harvest. (ABC Rural: Laurissa Smith)<\/p>\n

“Then there’s this thing we call soil moisture holding capacity, like how big is your water bucket, how much soil moisture can you store?<\/p>\n

“The bigger the bucket, the deeper your soil, the longer your crop is going to grow.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Move over Hottest 100 \u2014 farmers have their own annual music poll to count down their top songs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[166522,64,63,166523,134,166520,166524,61833,166519,166525,166521,36083,166526],"class_list":{"0":"post-289066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-2025-harvest","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-drought-sa","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-gpsa","14":"tag-grain-producers-sa","15":"tag-harvest","16":"tag-harvest-100","17":"tag-harvest-soundtrack","18":"tag-harvest-time-south-australia","19":"tag-jimmy-barnes","20":"tag-music-for-harvest"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}