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The Mishna on our daf describes how the barley was harvested and prepared for the korban ha-omer brought on the second day of the Passover holiday –
The emissaries of the beit din used to go out on the day before the festival and tie the unreaped barley in sheaves to make it the easier to reap. All the inhabitants of the nearby towns assembled there, so that it would be harvested with great fanfare.
And why was all this?
Because of the Baitusim who maintained that the reaping of the omer was not to take place at the conclusion of the first day of the festival.
The Gemara explains that the Baitusim were a religious sect that disagreed with the tradition of the Sages regarding the korban ha-omer. The Sages interpreted the passage in Sefer Vayikra 23:11 that says that the omer must be brought on the day following “Shabbat,” as referring to the first day of the Passover holiday. The Baitusim argued that the korban ha-omer was always brought on Sunday, so that Shavuot could only fall out on Sunday, as well.
We continue our exploration of the Boethusians and their differences from Saduccees.