Tag Archives: wheat harvest

It’s beginning to get a little tense around these parts

by nebraskawheatie

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.

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Boring, Boredom, Bored…Ugh!

by nebraskawheatie

I think the title of this posting will give you a pretty good view of what’s going on in camp today.

This is a part of the job that tends to wear on me. A day off (or even a couple of days) is always a welcome break. We’re on our 8th day of sitting – except for the two days of moving equipment to Deerfield. We worked pretty hard up to June 2nd which was the day we completed the last field in Arnett – just before the rain. So, I DID enjoy it… for a while.

Me and Callie

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A Tough Start in KS

by nebraskawheatie

Jim and I headed back to Shattuck yesterday a.m. to get the combine and header – and Frank.

The view of Shattuck through the window of the Pete and from a direction I hadn’t seen it from before – North looking South.

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We are now residents of Kansas

by nebraskawheatie

The above cloud formation was something we saw nearly every night since Saturday.

Since we finished on Saturday, the past four days seem like they lasted FOREVER!  The rain we received on Sunday morning continued on and off nearly every day. We were going to load up yesterday but it rained most of the day so we decided to wait one more day since there was no hurry to get to Deerfield.

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Cherry Pie and more

by nebraskawheatie

Things are pretty low-keyed in the Zeorian camp right now.

Yesterday was a day of being on the road. Callie and I left camp yesterday morning and headed for Woodward, OK. Jim and Taylor had left about an hour earlier to get Frank to his appointment with the mechanic. Frank had a leaky wheel seal and a broken spring.  I swear I’ve been treating him nicely…sometimes, though, things start falling apart because of age (believe me, I know).

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Rain

by nebraskawheatie

This morning while I was lying In bed listening to the rain and thunder it made me think about how rain is either a good thing or a bad thing – depending on one’s circumstances.

For me, at that very moment, it was a good thing. It was a pull-the-covers-to-my-chin sort of feeling. I could lay there and not feel bad that we were getting more rain which would extend our stay in Shattuck because the wheat wasn’t getting cut. I knew that before we left the field last night – only ½ hour before the storm hit – the final acre had been cut, the trucks had been dumped, and the combine had most of the field dirt blown off. When I realized there was no reason to feel bad for the rain, I enjoyed it.

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“Pure Pleasure”

by nebraskawheatie

Yesterday seems like a week ago and I’m even struggling to remember what we did other than cut wheat.

We finished the smaller of the two fields near Arnett yesterday and moved to the larger one. This field appeared to be a piece of cake. However, it’s yielding 60+ bushels per acre and the straw causes a little bit of an issue at times. So, it feels like I’m creeping when travelling at 3.2 mph. I remember when that speed was tops! The field is relatively flat – no terraces like the rest of them have had. And, the best part, it’s across the road from the elevator.

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Arnett, OK

by nebraskawheatie

Today began with a trip to Fargo for fuel and then back to the farm where the combine and header spent the night. A quick fuel up, wiping of the windows and we were off on our 12 mile tour. The final acres we have to cut are on the outskirts of Arnett, OK.  Once we arrived at the field, Jim thought the best thing to do was to put the header on the combine and test the wheat’s moisture.

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135 Acres Closer To Being Done

by nebraskawheatie

Pretty much a normal day with nothing much to report. We started and finished the field that we had to leave. It was PLENTY dry today! Test weights averaged 62/63 lbs, the protein was really low…7-8% and the average was 40/45 bushels per acre. The field was ROUGH with a lot of terraces. It took us the whole day to cut 135 acres. I like the variation the terraces bring to your day but if it’s time you’re trying to make, the flat fields are by far the best! We’ve got approximately 2 ½ days left of the acres we came to Shattuck for. Then what?? Will we move on or find something more to do around here?

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They’re Heeeeeerrreee

by nebraskawheatie

We put in a pretty full day today. It was hot – no wind – and the wheat is plenty dry now. No more worries about green. We can just GO! The test weights remain in the 62 lb range. The field we’ve been working on for the past two days will probably average 50-55 bushels. Not too bad considering this area was suffering from drought this time last year!

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