In China, New Generation of ‘Wheat Men’ Harvest

In northwestern China’s Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, there used to be laborers who traveled around during harvest season to help farmers bring in the wheat crop. They are known as “wheat men.”

The older generation of wheat men who bent their backs using sickles has disappeared. The new generation of wheat men is equipped with trucks and harvesting machinery. They drive around the country to find work. And people from Henan province have become a major force.

Often, married couples will travel together. The wives are usually in charge of bargaining with agents and counting the money. The men do the hard labor.

One such couple, Wang Wei and his wife, from Tongbai, Henan, have been in the trade for a year. They left their school-age children at home with relatives. They got a driver’s license for a harvest machine, applied for a cross-region operation permit and spent 128,000 yuan for a small combine harvester. With fellow villagers equipped with three more harvesters, they embarked on the wandering life of wheat men.

Life is not easy for wheat men. When it rains, they have to stop working because wet wheat sells at lower prices. When the weather flattens large swaths of wheat, the harvesters consume more fuel, and the job takes a lot longer.

The worst hazard is dust pollution. Many wheat men have developed lung problems because they wear cheap filters when they work. Still, the job beats working as a truck driver transporting chemical powders, said Zheng Wenzheng, who has been working as a wheat man for four years.

Despite the downsides of the trade, more people are trying it out. The additional competition has made it harder for wheat men to find work that will pay a decent wage.

Zheng Bingchen harvests nearly 6.67 hectares of wheat on June 11. During the day, Zheng’s son called with news that he didn’t do well on his national college entrance exams. Zheng is now worried about his son’s future.

Wang Wei, in his first year as a wheat man, has a mouth full of dust after a day in the fields because his wife forgot to put a filter in his mask.

Zheng Bingchen tests out which harvester will work the best on wheat fields that have been flattened by bad weather.

A harvester makes its way through a wheat field in Jize county, Hebei. Many of the plants have been flattened by strong winds.

Zhang Meng rests in a truck on June 7 in Cixian, Hebei. Rain showers had delayed the harvest, forcing the wheat men to wait.

Wheat men eat their breakfast — noodles cooked by their wives — on the morning of June 8.

Villagers dance nears the trucks on June 7 in Linzhang, Hebei.

Zheng Shuchang prepares to sleep in a tent. After nearly 10 years in the trade, Zheng and her husband can earn 100,000 yuan ($14,644) a year.

After finishing work, wheat men douse themselves with water to bath on June 9 in Jize, Hebei.

Contact reporter Wu Gang (gangwu@caixin.com)