Somewhere between Limon, CO and Salina, KS
I did something yesterday that under any other circumstances I would not do…I left Jim without help in the field.
Tag Archives: harvest
A Record Setting Day
There were a couple of records set yesterday.
- Yesterday’s temperature broke records in Denver (and probably Limon).
- We cut the most wheat in one day – ever.
A year and a half ago, a man I loved and respected passed away unexpectedly. Oddly enough, just a week prior to his passing, we had a very lengthy conversation. He had been a past President for U. S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. and his love and passion for the custom harvesting industry was quite evident! The one thing I took from our conversation was a comment he made to me, “We have to tell our story”.
A couple of weeks ago, Ryan Goodman (Agriculture Proud) asked me if I’d write a guest blog for his site. Of course I agreed. It was published yesterday – THIS ONE’S FOR YOU, RON!
Thank you, Ryan, for giving me the opportunity to tell our story!
Cutting Wheat in the Desert
We were back in the field today before 10:00 a.m. I know we could have been there earlier but we had to get the equipment serviced and moved to the first field which takes time. The fields we cut here are in mile long strips. I like cutting these because there’s very little turning and it feels like you get a lot accomplished in a short period of time. Each field is approximately 100 acres – we were able to get two of them cut today. Unfortunately, the yields aren’t as good as we’ve been cutting this summer. Jim thought we’d be lucky if we cut 20 bushel wheat here.
Bring on the Heat!
It’s 9:00 a.m. and it’s already 90 degrees. If there’s any green wheat left out there in this area, it’ll be gone after today. Predicted high is 104 and the humidity is 14%. No wonder my eyes and nose begin to burn after stepping outside. I’m guessing the pool will be the likely place to find the girls – or lounging in the cool cottage. According to the Weather Channel, this is not the only place in the country it’s hot. So many areas are in desperate need of rain. The crops are going to suffer – which, in turn, means we suffer.
Eastern Colorado – The Land of Brown
We got up at 6:30 and were driving away from the campground at 8:30. That really does have to be a record for us. The girls worked together and we were able to get the trailer house “tore town” and hooked up in no time. It was difficult to have to tell the pups goodbye. They were at our cottage on wheels bright and early. I think they knew.
Pulling Camp and Moving On
Before we began our day yesterday, we had 100 acres left to cut. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the last 30 due to extreme high moisture and green straw. In some parts of the field, it was like mowing grass. 
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Back in the Wheat Field!
YES! We were able to get started cutting wheat on Monday. As you can see from the temperature in Lakin on that day, it was plenty warm. Today (Tuesday) was hot (101), as well, and HORRIBLY windy!
An Honor and An Update
It’s always fun when you receive comments from people you don’t know because it means someone is actually reading your blog. What’s even more fun is receiving a comment from someone you don’t know telling you they like your blog well enough to nominate you for an award. Thank you, C. J., and Food Stories Blog –http://www.foodstoriesblog.com for nominating me for the “Illuminating Blogger Award”. C. J. specializes in Food, Science, Recipes, Cooking & Stories about Food. If you love food and anything that has to do with food and recipes, visit her blog!
It’s beginning to get a little tense around these parts
Oh my goodness! Patience and tempers in this camp are beginning to take a turn for the worse! We have been inside this trailer house entirely TOO LONG! The last time we set foot in a wheat field was June 2 – that’s 12 days ago.
Yesterday, the girls and I did escape for most of the day. We headed to Garden City to tour the FREE zoo and then did a little shopping – fun and grocery. We went to the zoo with friends (who are also harvesters… young harvesters). I mention young harvesters because that is an issue in our industry that really needs to be addressed. It happened that Allie (harvester’s wife) could escape with the boys for a little while so they met us there.The Garden City Zoo is by far my favorite zoo! Even better than the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo, as far as I’m concerned. I could go there every day and not get sick of being there. It’s beautiful! This is its 85th year of existence and has always been free admission.
This little tyke’s name is Brooks.