Harvesting in Sublette, Kasas. This is the best of the best dry land crop…the fewest weeds. Most fields are yielding between 15-25 bushels per acre. Test weight is poor, often 56 lbs. We have heard of some in the 40s!
After 4-5″ of rain over most fields, we were surprised the mud was not worse. The John Deere combine is 4-wheel-drive and the ground had dried just enough to be able to push through and harvest the grain in most fields.
The final fields had more low spots, so we strategically left those fields last so they could dry up as much as possible. Still, standing water was easy to find and many passes had long stretches of mud. You couldn’t have harvested these areas without 4×4. The mud ads another layer of stress, takes a lot of effort to wash off such a large machine, and causes temporary panic attack when you nearly get stuck! We hope this is the last of the mud for 2018 harvest, but are thankful to have a machine capable of handling these tough scenarios.
The worst of the worst….an example of an abandoned field that will never be harvested. Such thin, poor wheat was easily overtaken by weeds after plentiful rain accelerated their growth. It’s sad to try and understand how discouraging this must make local farmers feel…a lot of money, hard work and planning went into raising this crop with nothing in return. No doubt there will be plenty of financial stress to shoulder as farmers will have staggeringly low incomes from their wheat crop this year.
An all-too-common site while harvesting here in SW Kansas. Too much wet, weedy material and not enough dry wheat straw to mix in and allow the machine to discharge the material out the straw chopper. This has to be cleaned out by hand, and I have the green-stained skin on my arms to prove it! How long will it take for my skin to return to it’s normal shade? These weeds have created a lot of heartache for everyone this year…
A ground-level view of the short, thin wheat. Cutting so close to the ground becomes very challenging, and that forces the machine to intake more green, wet weeds…a recipe for disaster. See the plugged straw chopper photo above. Muddy ground conditions also mean the machine can quickly, and unexpectedly, sink into the ground. This forces the wheat head to make contact with the ground and increases the chance for getting dirt into the header. Just another time-robbing, back-breaking task on a 100 degree day…digging wet dirt out of the center of the header. This also proved to be an all-to-common heartache while harvesting. Lets hope weed-free, dry conditions lie ahead of us for the balance of the summer.
All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and John Deere. Laura can be reached at brian@allaboardharvest.com.
It is what is happening and what we as custom harvesters deal with, not only this year but many times over the years. Thank you
We really enjoy your stories and the time it takes for you to produce this blog online and in the Journal. I look forward to reading to see the progress. We as Adair County Iowa farmers are excited to finally find out what that Jones family is up to. Always interesting to find out how farmers in other parts of the country operate. Good Luck and God’s Blessings as you harvest along. Hope the conditions improve for you and for those farmers.
We harvested for 21 years and had many situations like you face now. It almost seems hopeless fighting mud and weeds at the same time. We really feel for you and understand what you’re up against
Brian, thank you for your good report about your harvesting issues. Sounds like your sinuses are plugged also. That makes for hard to breath and think. Hope the rest of the trip is smooth. You and your crew take care. Harry and Sharon Drake, south central kansas
Brian, 4WD is a great improvement in combines. Back when we ran L2’s, before Mud Hogs, 30.5×32 rice on backwards, spin in, till “no more”, try to back out, or get “long cabled out”. Unload I/2 bin, dig the mud out of the header, bust the mud from the wheel scrapers, check for mud damage, and go back at it again and again, until moisture got high. Hard on equipment and hard on people.
The problem was then trying to plow when the clay ground finally dried those 3 foot wide, 2 foot deep, dual canyons that careened, in all directions, across the fields. Often would take 8 hours to “creep, jump and bang” across 50 acres. The rut damages were visible two years later in the wheat stands and yields, on the combines for a lifetime.
Posted at 13:46h in 2018, aawh, Crop Updates, harvest, High Plains Harvesting, HPH, Laura, Photos, Shelbourne Reynolds, stories, wheat by Laura Haffner 4 Comments
Northeast Colorado - This stop is normally one of my favorite places to photograph the crew. It’s deep blue skies, wide open spaces, and gorgeous sunsets does not disappoint. However, this year, when we finally made it back into the field, the air hung heavy....
Posted at 07:16h in 2018, aawh, All Aboard, harvest, High Plains Harvesting, HPH, Laura, Photos, stories, Uncategorized, wheat by Laura Haffner 2 Comments
Morgan County - I thought I was going to be late to the party. Some things back home delayed my departure to northeast Colorado. Upon arriving, Ryan thought they’d have around three more days of cutting, and we would head to Montana that weekend. As...
Posted at 12:00h in 2018, aawh, All Aboard, Brent Avalanche, harvest, High Plains Journal, Janel, John Deere, MacDon, Schemper Harvesting, Uncategorized, wheat, winter wheat by Janel Schemper 4 Comments
Chappell, Nebraska – Typically when we are out west cutting wheat the days are filled with plenty of amber waves of grain to harvest and getting a day off is just a wish! Wet conditions have slowed our progress and my only wish lately has...
Posted at 00:01h in 2018, aawh, All Aboard, harvest, High Plains Journal, wheat, Z Crew by z crew 18 Comments
Limon, Colorado - It was exactly a week. We walked away from the too-green-wheat field on July 11 and finally got moving again on July 18. It sure didn't happen very quickly. After the showers we received on Monday and Tuesday, we opted to wait until...
Posted at 14:24h in 2018, aawh, Crop Updates, High Plains Harvesting, High Plains Journal, HPH, Laura, Photos, stories, Uncategorized, wheat, winter wheat by Laura Haffner 0 Comments
Morgan County, Colorado - I thought you may be interested to learn about Sawfly, a pest that has been present in the area we are cutting. The following is a very brief overview. The adult female deposits eggs in the developing wheat plant. Despite laying many...
Posted at 15:30h in 2018, aawh, All Aboard, High Plains Journal, New Holland, wheat, Z Crew, Z-Crew Blog by z crew 9 Comments
Limon, Colorado - A week ago, I was feeling overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that was piling up on me, laundry, bills, dishes, dirty trailer house, etc. Amazing what a difference a few days can bring. Cutting among the wind turbines. There are so...
Posted at 09:05h in 2018, aawh, All Aboard, High Plains Journal, wheat, Z Crew, Z-Crew Blog by z crew 6 Comments
Limon, Colorado - The custom harvester continues to struggle with the 2018 harvest season. What began in May with severe drought in the southern states and the late season freezes, continues now with the nasty four-letter word…hail. If you haven’t experienced it yourself, the images on social...
Posted at 08:15h in 2018, aawh, All Aboard, High Plains Journal, New Holland, wheat, Z Crew, Z-Crew Blog by z crew 3 Comments
Limon, Colorado - Goodness, it's such a catch 22. I either have enough time to do the things I need to do (which means we're doing nothing in the field) OR I'm scrambling to figure out how to make it all work. I'm behind on catching...
Posted at 10:15h in 2018, aawh, All Aboard, All Aboard News, harvest, High Plains Harvesting, HPH, John Deere, Laura, Photos, stories, Uncategorized, wheat by Laura Haffner 8 Comments
Southeast Colorado: The other day I was delivering meals to the field and struck up a conversation with a few of the crew members. Our team comes from different parts of the world and this year the United States, United Kingdom, and Netherlands are represented...
Posted at 09:00h in 2018, aawh, harvest, High Plains Harvesting, High Plains Journal, HPH, Laura, Photos, stories, wheat, winter wheat by Laura Haffner 4 Comments
Southeast Colorado: I have a love/hate relationship with GPS technology. Some of you may recall this from previous posts. I will admit, it is improving all the time and the accuracy is a little scary (the occasionally inaccuracy is equally scary). Without giving away my...