To Market, To Market

Then and now ...

Some harvest scenes haven't changed. A blue Kansas sky provides a backdrop as a combine unloads golden grain into a waiting truck. But compare the 1950s-era truck and combine with today's machines, and it's like the farm version of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."

This 1970s-era truck driver has changed a bit, too. But, as a farm daughter turned farm wife, harvest is still part of my DNA.

My Dad had me helping in the harvest field at about age 12. I began moving the grain trucks around in the wheat field before I was old enough to make trips to the elevator. After my Dad would make another swath with the combine, I'd move the truck closer so he didn't have to take time driving to the truck.

When I had my farm permit, I was promoted to a "real" truck driver and took loads of wheat to the Iuka Co-op. I remember being coached by my Dad and also by a truck driver named Ed, who taught me the fine points of waiting in line, unrolling the tarp, how to dump the truck and instructions in the fine art of elevator etiquette. 

After last harvest's truck troubles, we upgraded to a semi. It's been a great addition to the farm fleet. We used it during corn harvest last year, but this is our first wheat harvest using it. Since it can hold much more than a traditional farm truck, it requires fewer back-and-forth trips to the elevator.

Jake usually drives the semi, but I went along for the ride when Randy was the driver. (Yes, I could learn to drive the semi if needed. So far, my services have not been required.)

It's definitely a different vantage point traveling down the road in a semi.

Here, we arrive at the Zenith branch of the Kanza Co-op.

Randy unrolls the tarp.

 

He pulls the semi onto the scales at the co-op office, where they weigh the loaded truck. With the orange probe, they get a sample of the wheat and test for quality, including weight, moisture, protein and foreign matter.

At Zenith, there are two dump sites. This time, we were directed to the dump site outside the elevator.

Randy waits while another truck pulls out.

Once the truck is in position, the co-op workers open the hatches underneath the truck. The truck is emptied through gravity.

We still use the tandem truck as needed. A hoist lifts the truck bed on the old truck. Here are some photos from corn harvest that illustrate the difference:

A co-op worker opens the slides on the back of the truck, then signals the driver to begin raising the truck bed. As the driver, you watch in your rearview mirror and watch for hand signals from the co-op worker. Sometimes, they want you to pause so the grain doesn't pile up.

The bed is fully raised in the photo below. Once the truck is empty, the driver puts down the truck bed back down before pulling away.

No matter the method, it's a dirty job with all the grain dust swirling around!

Once the grain was unloaded from the semi, Randy pulled away for the trip back to the scales.

 

They weigh the empty truck and can then determine how much wheat we delivered to the co-op. Below, Tara gives Randy the ticket with the information about quantity and quality. If you click on the photo to make it bigger, you can see she's using a yardstick contraption to reach the driver's hands. That way, it saves steps for everybody.

Right before we pulled away, we took a look at the market board in the window. (This was from a week ago, so the prices reflect the June 23 price.) The wheat is stored at the co-op until we are ready to sell it

The farmer or landlord pays a storage fee to the co-op based on the amount of time the grain was stored before being sold. Then, it belongs to the co-op. When they  sell it, most is trucked out of the elevator to the buyer. (In the past, rail travel helped move a lot of grain, too, but most of it is trucked these days, at least in this area.)

Then it was back to the field to do it all over again.

Hot Brakes, Cool Heads

"It's not just a job, it's an adventure."

The slogan was first used for a Navy commercial, but it was an apt response from a fellow farm wife to this post on my Facebook page last Friday afternoon:

It's not a good thing when your trip to the elevator involves a fire extinguisher. However, cool heads prevail over hot brakes.

People will sometimes say they are "putting out fires" at work. I don't think there are supposed to be actual flames. We seem to be the exception to that rule. 
 
It started as an attempt to document another aspect of corn harvest. Earlier, I'd ridden along as we took a load of high-moisture corn to the Haw Ranch Feedlot near Turon.  We haul the majority of our grain to the Zenith and Stafford branches of the Kanza Co-op, so I wanted to give some equal time to our friends there. 

It started innocently enough. I rode along on the combine as Randy cut corn. When the truck was full, we took off for Zenith. On the way, we heard an unusual squeak, but we couldn't figure out the source of the noise, even after peering into the rearview mirrors.

But, when we turned the corner into the Zenith Co-op's drive, a billow of smoke came up. The smoke and the smell followed us all the way to the office, where we parked to have the grain tested and the truck weighed.

In the excitement of Randy grabbing the fire extinguisher from the cab, I missed getting a photo of the smoke billowing out from the right side of the truck, where were actual flames (though small) or of Randy as firefighter. Thankfully, the fire extinguisher did the job. So much for my play-by-play captions of dumping grain at the elevator!

You can see the orange probe hovering over the truck. The operator inside the office uses the probe to get a sample of the corn. One of the tests is for moisture. While the feedlot wanted the grain between 24 to 35 percent moisture for grinding, the co-op prefers it at 16 or under. The load is docked if it is above 16 because the co-op then has to dry the grain.

The corn is also tested for foreign material and bugs. If the grain has too much of either of those things, there's also a dockage charge.

Since we have a smaller truck, we many times dump inside the elevator. However, when we rolled onto the scales with flames, the executive decision was made for us to dump into the pit outside the elevator. Good idea, guys!

A co-op worker opens the slides on the back of the truck, then signals Randy to begin raising the truck bed. As the driver, you watch in your rearview mirror and watch for hand signals from the co-op worker. Sometimes, they want you to pause so the grain doesn't pile up.

The bed is fully raised in the photo below. Once the truck is empty, Randy put down the truck bed and we went back to weigh onto the scale empty.

This particular load was 14.0 moisture, with a test weight of 60 and a No. 1 grade. We dumped 31,500 pounds or 562.50 bushels with that load. The corn is stored at the co-op until we are ready to sell it. (Usually, the price goes up after we sell. It's the law of grain marketing. Just kidding!)

The farmer or landlord pays a storage fee based on the amount of time the grain was stored before being sold. Then, it belongs to the co-op. They sell it to entities like feedlots or ethanol plants. Most of it is trucked out of the elevator to the buyer. (In the past, rail travel helped move a lot of grain, too, but most of it is trucked these days, at least in this area.)

Now, back to the brake issue: We parked the truck at the co-op and Jake came and rescued us. Naturally, things like this always seem to happen at inconvenient times. It was late Friday afternoon, and we couldn't get ahold of a mechanic until Monday morning.

I followed Randy to town yesterday morning. Best news? We made it to town without using a fire extinguisher, though it definitely smelled hot as he parked it at the mechanic's shop.

We don't know the verdict yet. Thankfully, we are now done cutting corn, but this is the truck we use for holding seed wheat, and we are starting to drill wheat today. We have an auger that attaches to the truck, making it easier to get the wheat from the truck to the drill. 

Wheat drilling - 2011

We have another truck we can use to hold seed wheat, but the auger doesn't fit onto it. Until we get the bigger truck back, the guys will have to go "old-school" when transferring the wheat to the drill. They'll have to use a scoop. They (and their backs!) are hoping there's a quick solution for the other truck.

More on corn harvest and wheat drilling to come!