So here we are in July, Mary and I have now returned from the USA after spending 3 weeks trying to visit with the guys and gals we have placed with Harvest crews, this year we placed with 10 crews and a record number of placements, sadly due to time scale and weather this year we did not manage to visit with many of our placements which we are sad about, Paul did manage to get a brief afternoon/evening with David Pratt from MAST international (university of Minnesota) who we work with for the J1 visa.
The weather at the start of harvest in the USA has been a real issue, everything was coming together well for an on time start in Texas and then the rain came and did not want to stop, this has now made for some very wet and muddy harvesting conditions and put everyone behind.
We ran our first 2 HarvestCruz Holidays, the first week we had to travel lots of miles just to find some combines running, the 2nd week was better as the weather had started to improve and more harvesters were managing to get some wheat cut.
The September HarvestCruz tour to the Husker Harvest Days show and Case Grand Island combine factory still has spots open if this interest you.
LAMMA SHOW 2026
We are looking forward to LAMMA 2026 on January 15-16th, Yes we have the booth, which will go bigger in 2026 and our hotels rooms booked already, and I’m working on something I would love to have on the booth next year if funding allows.
Our Facebook page has daily updates as to what is happening with the crews we work with, so please watch this for updates.
HARVESTCRUZ HOLIDAYS
Which we will be doing the first tours in 2025, there is a link in the menu for more info or go to www.harvestcruzholidays.com, and we are pleased to say the 2 June tours are now fully booked. We do still have 1 spot left for the September tour.
June 6th to 13th 2025 Wheat Harvest, Texas to Kansas…..FULLY BOOKED
June 13th to 20th 2025 Wheat Harvest, Oklahoma to Kansas…..FULLY BOOKED
September 5th to 12th Husker Harvest Days and Case Grand Island combine works, Fall Harvest. WE have 1 more spot left on this tour
If you are interested, please email me at paul@harvestsupport-usa-uk.com and I can send you a booking form and more information.
We were pleased to see a little article in Farmers Weekly about HarvestCruz Holidays on our return from the USA.
STANSTED MEETING FOR 2026 CREWS, Your Gateway to the American Harvest
We have booked the Novatel Hotel, Stansted, meeting room for December 6th 2025 starting at 1pm, this will be a presentation about custom harvesting in the USA, also a Q&A also what we can do for you in getting you onto a harvest crew, and what we expect from you. We usually also have a few folks along that we have placed and they will be more than happy to share their thoughts about being on a Harvest crew.
We are also taking applications now for 2026, the form can be found on this website, under “How To Join” please mark it that you are looking to go in 2026 so we don’t add you into the 2025 folder.
BOOKINGS FOR 2025/6
We are also planning to attend some Agricultural Collages for their career events during 2025
And LAMMA is January 14-15th Tuesday/Wednesday 2026 which we plan to have a little bigger booth.
H2A and TAX UPDATE
PLEASE READ AND TAKE NOTE.
It seems this year the IRS are starting to get HOT on Foreign workers not paying Income tax, this has been brought to my attention from several guys placed on harvest crews who are now being asked to pay Income tax, which after research you are liable for.
The best I can advise is to make sure your employer deducts this from your pay at source.
You will be sent a W-2 form to submit to the IRS the following year.
If you work anything over 179 days you are liable for Income tax, you are not liable for Social Security or Medicare taxes.
Also, I advise NOT to pay what you could owe through the HMRC as this will not be past onto the IRS.
Please don’t let this put you off joining a US or Canadian Combine or Chopping crew, its an amazing experience and what you will gain from it will memories of a lifetime.
WOULD YOUR CLUB LIKE A TALK ON CUSTOM HARVESTING IN THE USA
If your club would be interested I am more than happy to do this for a small fee to cover my fuel cost, the presentation last for around an hour with talking, pictures and film and I welcome questions throughout the presentation.
