A combine harvester with an axial flow crop processor with a rotor mounted for rotation inside a rotor housing arranged longitudinally with respect to the harvester. A feed beater is mounted for rotation on a substantially transverse axis and serves to tangentially impel crop material into the crop processor. A drive system drives the rotor and feed beater, wherein the drive system includes a rotor drive device for transmitting torque from a drive stage to the rotor, and a drive connection between the rotor drive device and the beater.