Vintage threshing to get the straw

The kind of straw you need to thatch a roof is pretty specific. Modern combine harvesters have about seven big threshing drums that beat the crap out of the straw, making it unusable for thatching because it's all broken and matted. Instead, I went to a local vintage threshing in Ballyragget that's held annually in aid of various charities. Machinery from the 30s onwards is on display, with tractors, cars, a combine harvester, ploughing competitions and no new fangled threshing drums! Shem, my awesome neighbour who pile drived (pile drove?) the groundposts back in May, took me over with his big trailer and parked it up beside an old combine harvester. They were threshing spring oats and we got a full load of it. Ideally, the straw should be about 3ft long, but this was 18 inches at most because it had been sprayed with shortener while it was growing. If only I'd spoken to the farmers earlier... another lesson for next time!