Christmas music is on the radio, there’s snow on the ground and it’s probably here to stay. Winter has arrived in Eastern Nebraska.
It’s been two weeks that I made the final lap in the corn field – November 19, to be exact. Seems much longer than that, honestly. Fall harvest felt like it was about a year long. We had so much weather to deal with…just like so many others.
This is the first year I’ve been involved with fall harvest from start to finish. In the past, I’ve been the one to go visit the combine and ride along for an afternoon. There have been times when a driver was needed for one of our older trucks – that was me. As a matter of fact, I was driving Henry the day before Callie was born. She was a week early. The other girls had been a week late. I believe Henry helped shake her in place AND she was born on a rain day. Perfect! A week later, she and I were back in Henry hauling corn and I was worrying about “shaking baby syndrome”.
Oh Henry…I loved that truck! Grandpa purchased it when it was brand, spankin new. It’s now spending the rest of its life in Jordan, Montana. When I have the opportunity to crawl back in the cab of that ‘ole truck, it gives me so many weird feelings. It even smells like it did when I was a young girl.
For me, fall harvest was always more of an event that everyone else was doing. Until this year.
I was hired by friends to run their New Holland combine. I was so excited to be sitting in the cab again but also very, very anxious about never cutting soybeans or picking corn. I didn’t have a clue.
Fall crops are way different animals than what I’m used to dealing with.
Here are a few things I learned:
- You need about four sets of eyes to watch everything that needs to be watched. With wheat, you can push the button for GPS, sit back and relax. Not so with corn and beans – unless its just a sign of my inexperience. There are so many things to watch for. Make sure the snoots on the corn header are where they should be – not too high and not too low.
- Soybeans shouldn’t be cut straight into the row. You can – and probably will – stop the header. Always cut with the row or at an angle.
- It’s best to know and understand how the corn has been planted. I couldn’t get it at first. I didn’t understand why you couldn’t just pull up to rows, engage the corn head and GO! Words not normally used when cutting wheat became a part of my vocabulary. And I’m talking words like “point row and guess row”, not cuss words. (Although, I will admit…a few choice words did escape my lips once in awhile.)
- Counting rows is not as easy as you think. It’s much more difficult than I would have expected to be sitting in the cab, looking directly at the rows of corn and lose count. Now how in the world does that happen? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…GO! I would get lined up with what I thought was the right row and have to back up and recount. Sometimes it worked best if I could find something different about the row I was looking for. Was the ear of corn pointed in a different direction than the others? Is there a weed identifying the row? What about the way the stalk is leaning? Oh good grief! Nine times out of ten, I COULD NOT hit the row like I should.
- Terraces aren’t supposed to have a row left on them. The farmer is so good at planting his guess row distance, there was no way I could make it easy…ever! Sometimes, a red ribbon tied to the “guess row” worked the best.
- You can’t turn a sharp corner when picking corn – or even a gradual one. If you slow down to a creep and take your time, you can make it happen without pushing over too many stalks.
- It’s much easier to sit in the buddy seat and watch the corn dance in the header than being the one responsible for getting the corn in the header!
- It’s probably a good idea to go another row deeper if you need a “break”. Hard telling just exactly who might show up at the worst time.
- As hard as you try to be careful, accidents do happen. I’m not even sure what I did or how it happened. I messed up the corn head. Not just a snoot that needed to be replaced. I mean really messed it up. I cried for two days. Literally. Thank goodness for the forgiveness of a good employer. I may not be asked to come back next fall but he did let me finish the season. I was pretty hard on myself just because I knew what things cost and what down time meant.
- Dressing in layers works really great! I began the morning with multiple layers of shirts, a stocking hat, mittens and a coat. By the middle of the afternoon, I was down to a t-shirt. And when the day was over, all layers were back in use. I’m a warm-weather person. Give me 100 degrees, shorts and a tank top and I’m extremely happy! This dressing in layers is for the birds.
- Fall harvest includes a chuck wagon. Working for someone else provides way better meals than working for yourself! It didn’t feel right not packing a lunchbox every day. I thoroughly enjoyed the meals being delivered to the field. Thank you to the cook for the best meals ever!
- An eagle really does have keen eye sight. The last field I was in included a bald eagle sitting in a tree overlooking the field. They are a beautiful bird and much larger than what they look like from a distance. This particular fellow was watching for rabbits and spotted one from the treetop. I was nearly a quarter of a mile away from it when the combine scared up a bunny. The eagle saw that and made a beeline for the hopping animal only to be outsmarted by a bunny. At the last minute, the rabbit dodged back in the rows of corn into safety. I didn’t see it in person but I was watching the farmer pointing and flapping his arms like a bird inside the cab of his tractor. Watching that was worth way more fun than he knows!
When it was all said and done, I know I wasn’t the best fall crop combine operator they could have ever had. But I wasn’t the worst, either. So, if they are willing to take a chance on me again, I’ll be more than happy to accept the challenge for fall harvest 2019.
I do know this…I’m a far better wheat cutter and way more tolerant of summer weather. But, I got to spend a few more weeks than usual in the cab of a combine and that’s what I love to do!
Fun adventure—you are such a pioneer—I so admire you!!
Well, I don’t know if you can call me a pioneer. 🙂
Or just doin what I have to do.
Thanks for your note, Judeen!!!
Tracy, so glad you got to do some more harvesting. Amazing that you find the fall crops so different from a harvesting perspective. I loved that Eli and Nora are getting the experience of the harvest with their Gramma. The tradition continues.❤️ Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Oh my, yes! The fall crops are so different to me. I felt a little more comfortable in the seat and doing what I was doing towards the end of the season. Maybe after next year, I can say I feel even better. Yep…they asked me if I’d do it again next year. 🙂 I’m so glad the kids want to come along. I have such fond memories of riding in the cab of a combine with my grandpa and in the cab of a truck with my grandma. Some of the very best!
Merry Christmas to you guys, too!
Never be afraid of the unknown ,you will embrace it and go forward . Life is a never ending class room ,we are always learning .I knew you would do your best &then some. Love the in cab pic’s of Nora &Eli ,nap time or what !!! Tracy your fall photo’s are MINT . Super info on your fall harvest run ,it is on my bucket list to come down and feel a Nebraska fall harvest . Dad always said if you ain’t —–‘n up you ain’t doing much!! My saying is Experience is a whole lot’a —–up’s Mother Nature sure did test Custom Harvesters & Farmers alike this fall . Next year EH !!
Your words are always so encouraging, Tom. Thank you! I am such a detail person. I probably have way greater expectations on myself than I should. It’s just who I am. Yes!!! We harvesters surely did have a great test with harvest 2018. I hope 2019 is a bit easier on all of us.
Merry Christmas to you and your family! God bless!!
Thank You for sharing with us,,,,,i really enjoy Stories like Yours,,,,,once a Farmer ,,Always a Farmer,,,,,for me i guess. Merry Christmas.
Ray…good to hear from you! Thank you for your kind words. They encourage me to write when I know someone actually takes time to read them. I understand the “once a farmer, always a farmer”. I’ve never farmed but if I had to to totally leave the world of agriculture, I don’t think it would even feel right.
Merry Christmas!
Loved your fall harvest story and pictures…grandkids are growing up to fast! I sent your story on to our son Chris (47)…he does all of our combining…corn, wheat and until a couple years ago, alfalfa seed. You’d hate that Tracy…they have to move SO slow combining alfalfa seed! Son Chris and husband Ron met Jenna a few years back when they were at the Claas factory. We did buy the combine. We don’t do the acres you do, just our own place. Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and good harvesting in 2019!
Margaret Smith
Good to hear from you, Margaret!
Yep!! I remember they came to Omaha and met Jen. 🙂 The people who are pros at the fall crop probably laughed at my experience. I was asked to help next year so, hopefully, I’ll have a little more experience with it this time next year. Life is a journey and ya might as well do all you can…before you can’t.
Thank you so much for leaving your note. I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas! And let’s hope 2019 is good for all of Ag.
You’ll do great next fall Tracy…you’re a quick study. Love to read about your adventures! 🙂
Glad to see your post. I was curious as to how you got along with the fall harvest. We are just down the river from you here in northwest Missouri and still trying to finish corn harvest, hopefully this week. Couldn’t buy a rain all summer and then nine inches first two weeks in October and four snows after that. At least we got the beans out and the corn has stood well and is yielding good for what it has been through. Should have known it was going to be an interesting season when we got six inches of snow on Easter Sunday. Had the same experience with an eagle chasing rabbits on our last day of bean harvest, he even resorted to chasing them on foot, made for a fun couple hours watching him. Your grandkids have a little more comfortable place to nap in todays combines. I can still remember the naps I took in the Massey 510 on that ledge behind the seat riding with my dad. Wonderful memories. Hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and lots of wheat to cut next year.
I am also aware of the comfiness of that ledge behind the seat on the Massey combines. I remember quite clearly being in the combine with my grandpa and standing next to him while he was running the combine. And eventually climbing behind him for a nap on that ledge. 🙂 What great memories!! There is a small ledge behind the seat in the New Holland cab. It could provide a great place for a very small child. But a blanket on the floor with a coat as a pillow seems to be the best way to take a long nap these days. Hope you are able to get that harvest done this week. It looks like Eastern Nebraska is in for a warm up of temps – nearing 40 degrees. It will be time to break out the shorts and tank top…HA!! The 2018 harvest has certainly provided plenty of challenges for everyone. Thanks for taking time to leave your note.
Tracy, I know you and I know you did a great job! I relate to the break down, but I am sure anyone else would have had that happen in the same situation. I still love your writing-you have a wonderful way with words which make your stories come to life. So glad you got to do that and also enjoy having those grandkiddo’s spend some time with you. Love you guys. MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!
Thank you for your note, Linda! Good to hear from you. Hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas. It went way too fast. Seems like it takes so long to prepare for and before you know it, it’s just over. I sort of need a Christmas music fix about now.
While I enjoyed cutting wheat, I loved the fall harvest most of all. Cool mornings, hot afternoons and bright colors accompanied the bean harvest on our Indiana farm. Late starts and long nights in the combine transitioned into cold mornings, cool afternoons and even longer days as the leaves disappeared from the trees and we moved into the corn harvest. Most years the snow would fly before we would finally put the combine away for the year. As a matter of fact I relived a cold, windy, snowy January day in the combine in a blog I wrote several years ago. So many happy memories from my past are related to the fall harvest. Thanks for bringing some of those memories back to the surface with your posts and pictures. 😊
Merry Christmas and may God bless you and yours in the coming year and keep you all safe and healthy.
Good to hear from you, Doug! I pray you and your family have a blessed 2019. If it keeps you healthy…you’ve had a great year!
I know one storm does not make a winter, but I hope you are getting enough snow and rain to improve conditions over last year. GC. from North Carolina.
I also hope the weather treats us well this year. We harvesters need a year that doesn’t challenge the spirit and the pocket book quite so much! Good to hear from you, Gene. I pray your new year is a great one!
[…] what I have already told and how much I really do have to get caught up on. The last post was about what I learned about fall harvest. And it was […]