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!
The wheat is doing well enough that the combine is full before I can get back to the field. So, Jim dumps that load in the Pete. Eventually, the Pete is full and needs to head to the elevator. It’s at that time I get to jump in the cab of the yellow beast. It’s nice to get out of the heat of the day but even better to be behind the steering wheel of the combine.
Taylor and Callie left home this morning about 8:00 a.m. to begin their 2012 harvest adventure. They were able to follow Mark Rathe from Syracuse, NE to Dodge City, KS. They took off on their own from that point and arrived in Shattuck about 5:15 this afternoon. It was SO GOOD to see them. It’s only been 3 weeks since we left home but it feels like a lot longer.
I just told Jim this afternoon I think about how fast the harvest is going and then I stop and realize… it’s not even June yet! We’ve only been away from home 21 days (which when you put it like that IS closer to a month than not) and we’re nearly done with our second job.
We finished the big field this evening and lucked out with the storms. The weatherman is predicting a better chance for severe weather for our area tomorrow afternoon. I hope he’s wrong!
We were able to move the equipment to the next field which is the one we tried earlier in the week and it was too green. Tomorrow, we’ll begin a new field and new adventures! Did I mention how good it was to have the girls here??
This is the hometown cafe that I mentioned in yesterday’s posting.
Our trailer is parked just behind the cafe. Do you see the pizza hut on the left side of the picture?
View from inside Frank going through the town of Shattuck – headed for the elevator.
More grain trucks were dumping today. Guess the wheat must have finally got dry enough for everyone to start!
Callie taking a ride to the next field with her dad.
