The harvest season was called "Shemu". The reapers cut the grain with wooden sickles that had sharp flints. The cattle trampled over the cut grain. They tossed grain into the air so the breeze blew the useless chaff away. It was hard and slow. Harvest takes place in spring but finishes in May. Families hired workers to do the job. Everyone took part in harvest. Farmers had to barter. Many of them harvested crops to trade for the things and animals they needed to plant more crops.