Threshing
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Threshing, or thrashing, is the process of loosening the edible part of grain from the straw to which it is attached. It is the step in grain preparation after reaping. Threshing does not remove the b
A farmer in India threshes grain by hand.
An animal-powered thresher
A grain flail
Harvesters threshing in Akaroa, Canterbury, New Zealand
Winnowing
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Winnowing is a process by which chaff is separated from grain. It can also be used to remove pests from stored grain. Winnowing usually follows threshing in grain preparation. In its simplest form, it
Threshing
…had been beaten out by the flail or ground out by other means the straw was carefully raked away and the grain and chaff collected to be separated by winnowing when there was a wind blowing. This consisted of tossing the mixture of grain and chaff into the air so that the wind carried away the chaff while the…
Rice winnowing, Uttarakhand, India
Winnowing in a village in Tamil Nadu, India
Chinese rotary fan winnowing machine, from the Tiangong Kaiwu encyclopedia (1637)
Le vanneur (The Winnower) by Jean-François Millet, a 19th-century depiction of winnowing by fan