Miracles Do Happen: Harvest 2013

Before the reward, there must be labor. 

You plant before you harvest. 

You sow in tears before you reap joy.

Artist Ralph Ransom

Last September, I found a quote in The Hutchinson News and superimposed it over a photo of our newly drilled wheat field:

The summer of 2012 was the driest since 1936. At one point, three-quarters of the land area in the 48 contiguous states was experiencing drought conditions. I'd never heard the old farmers' adage before, and I sure didn't believe it.

For us, the adage came true. It is Randy's best harvest year ever, and he's been farming since the summer of 1972. Our overall yield average this year was 52.7 bushels per acre. Our highest yielding field was 76 bushels per acre, and our lowest was 32 bushels per acre (on ground that is primarily used for hunting by the landlord). Randy planted two wheat varieties this year: Everest and Stout. They both yielded well and exceeded the 60-pound-a-bushel test weight for quality wheat. But at some locations, the Stout variety laid over in the field, which made for slower cutting.
Our previous record harvest was 2008, when the average was 50.6 bushels per acre.

The yields and quality were miraculous when you consider the obstacles the crop faced during its 9-month life cycle. We planted in dust. The wheat miraculously came up. But even then, the obstacles weren't over. It has needed the proverbial nine lives to get it from planting to harvest. After an unseasonable hail/ice/sleet/rain storm on April 9,  I wrote:

We walked across the road to the wheat field, and there was more crunching than a roomful of celery-and-carrot-munching dieters as our boots broke the surface of the ice that encased each tender green plant.

Then, it happened again on April 23, after springtime had "officially" arrived (on the calendar anyway) and after the frost-free date for our area. Mother Nature didn't get the memo:

After another shot of freezing weather, our 2013 wheat crop is on its fourth or fifth life - at least. It kind of looked like a slushy machine had erupted in the wheat fields again on Tuesday morning. 

May, however, brought some unseasonably cool weather and rain showers at the right time. It turned out to be ideal weather for filling wheat heads. Contrast this year's mild temperatures with last year, when we had already had several 100-degree days in May, and we began cutting wheat on May 26 and finished on June 9, the earliest ever. (Our July 6, 2013, finish date this year was almost a full month later than last year.)

I know our fellow wheat farmers to the west were not so fortunate. For them, the adage was just a tired old saying. Around here, we still need more rain to officially "bust" the drought, but they desperately need moisture. Many of them had to abandon their wheat crops. Others had paltry yields, but they cut it anyway, trying to get seed wheat for next year.

 

The end of Wheat Harvest 2013 was a little anticlimactic around here, since we weren't actually cutting it ourselves. The custom cutters hauled the last load of our wheat to Stafford on Saturday, but one of our own trucks is already in the shed, and the combine is still in the repair shop in Hutchinson. And the guys have moved on to hay harvest and disking.

But we are extremely thankful for the harvest. I guess wheat is kind of like an old farmer: It often responds in the face of adversity and trials.

Like A Good Neighbor

"Like a good neighbor, Gary is there."

I can't speak from personal experience for the insurance company that originally used the jingle, but there is truth in advertising for my variation.

Gary Hornbaker and his crew (C.W. Feril, Tom Turner and Nick Mansel) helped us harvest wheat the last couple of days. Gary is the definition of a good neighbor.

When the ice storm took power lines down in 2007, we were without electricity for 12 days. Miraculously, Gary still had power, though he lives less than 3 miles away. He even gave up his bedroom so that we could stay at his house. We eventually got a generator and didn't take advantage of his hospitality for the whole nearly two-week stint.

The 2007 storm may have resulted in one of my all-time favorite photos, but it definitely wasn't a favorite time!

 So, did it surprise me when Gary was willing to cut a good portion of our remaining wheat? Nope, it didn't. You can hear the story of the Good Samaritan told from the pulpit or study it in a Sunday School class. But I know someone who lives it. Yes, he was done with his own harvest. But he sure wasn't done with a dozen other things that need to be done during summer on the farm.

He could have crossed to the other side of the road. But he didn't. We might not have been "bleeding" ourselves, but the combine had its own "ambulance" ride to the Straub's dealership in Hutchinson.

I don't really understand all the ins and outs of what's wrong with our combine.  There is a bearing out on the feeder house drive. To repair it, you have to remove one of the massive tires to get the shaft out. Some other mystery part ended up on the elevator grate when Jake dumped one of our loads at the Zenith branch of the Kanza Co-op. The guys still don't know where it came from, and Randy hasn't heard that verdict from Straub's yet. So, no matter that Randy had made two trips to Hutchinson, one trip to Great Bend and I made one parts run to Pratt, we were finally to the place that we couldn't limp along any longer. We faced facts: The combine wasn't going to be fixed on the farm.

There's a sinking in your stomach when you realize that part of a wheat crop is going to sit in the field while you wait on a combine repair. Wheat is our primary crop. It's what pays the bills around here. Ripe wheat sitting in a field doesn't improve with age, unlike fine wine.

Gary cut 291 acres of our wheat. Before all this happened, we had already scheduled a custom cutter to cut wheat at a location we call "up north." It's quite a distance for our little farm trucks to haul the 30-mile round trip  to Zenith, so we've had it custom harvested the last few years. Crockett Harvesting will cut it on Friday, so we're still not done with Harvest 2013. But we are oh-so-much closer than we would have been if we would have had to wait for our combine to be fixed.

Monday evening, Gary was cutting across the road from our house. This summer, I've taken several trips across the road to photograph the sunset. I'd been watching the sun slide down the power poles like a quarter in one of those cylindrical banks.

I'd been thinking about the photos I'd take when we cut the wheat there. The combine with cab lights gleaming would be silhouetted against that beautiful Kansas sky.

Well, I didn't think I could call a Good Samaritan to tell him to turn on his cab lights (like I would have my husband). But, it was still a mighty pretty picture - for a whole lot more reasons than a sunset sky. (And, for the record, I'm sure Gary would have turned on his lights if I'd asked.)

And, I knew it was only a matter of time that the lights would have to come on as Gary cut long into the night (or, more accurately, the early morning).

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the sky changed again, and so did the harvest scene as he rounded the power pole yet again, this time with lights cutting the dusk. I think there's a metaphor there somewhere.

Of course, we are paying Gary for his unscheduled custom harvesting job. However, no check and no amount of homemade bierocks and pasta salad (or grilled hamburgers and baked beans) toted to the harvest field a couple of evenings could begin to say a heartfelt thanks. His willingness to help his neighbors is, quite simply, priceless.

Remember that advertising jingle? Well, I've also been mixing in a chorus of Joe Diffie's song, John Deere Green. I grew up with green machinery. It's been 32 years of seeing red (so to speak) on the County Line. I'm sure my Dad and brother will have a comment or two about that.

***

I'm linked today to Jennifer Dukes Lee's Tell His Story. Click on the link to check out what bloggers of faith are talking about today!

Harvest Helper by Kinley Marie

June 28, 2013 - Kinley at 18 months

Hello all! It's Kinley Marie with another report from the farm.

Last Thursday night, we surprised Grandma for her birthday. While we were there, we decided we should help with harvest. Wheat harvest seems to be a big deal in Kansas. The big people in my life tell me that Kansas is known as the Wheat State. Since I didn't see much harvesting going on where I live, it's good I headed to South Central Kansas. I wouldn't want to miss out on something so important.

I'd only read about combines before I got to the field. Grandpa's combine was loud. I wasn't so sure riding in it was a good idea. Maybe I'd just stay behind with Grandma and Daddy. But, since Grandpa and Mommy really needed the help, I decided I'd give it a try.

Mommy told me that she used to go on combine rides when she was about my age. If she could do it, so could I.

Jill and Randy - 1987

Once we got into the cab, it wasn't so loud. Grandpa thought maybe I should drive, but I decided I was on vacation and I'd just watch. It looked like a lot of buttons and levers to me. Better to let him figure it all out.

We went up and down a field. The wheat stalks went into this thing at the front of the combine that looked like it was playing Ring Around the Rosie. Then a whole bunch of chaff and dust got chewed up and spit out behind us. I was glad I was in a cab and not out there in that mess! I saw a barn and a bunny and some birds, plus a lot of wheat. Grandpa told me to watch for deer and turkeys, but I didn't see any.

When we got back to the other end, we needed to unload the grain into the trucks so that Jake could take it to the elevator. That was another time I was glad Grandpa was driving. How does he get so close to the truck without hitting it? I watched carefully as he dumped the wheat. I was supposed to let him know if it looked like any was going to spill over.

We went on another round, and after we unloaded the wheat, we unloaded me because Grandma needed my help. A harvest helper's work is never done.

Earlier in the day, I had taste-tested the cookies that Mommy made to go into the meals. They were finger-licking good. When we were getting ready to take supper, I wanted to carry the coolers. I drug them around in the kitchen while Mommy and Grandma got the hot stuff ready, but they were a little too heavy for me to carry to the pickup. I did carry the towel. Grandma says the towel is one of the most important things to remember when taking meals to the field. It can be hot and dirty in the wheat field.

While we were waiting on the guys to get back to the truck, I decided to run off a few of those cookie calories by racing Mommy. I liked the dirt road.

Finally, the guys got back to the pickup, and I helped by giving Grandpa his lunch. I decided to keep him company by sitting in the pickup bed and eating my Cheerios. Nobody asked me to share. I guess he had enough with his Rock 'n' Roll Beef Wraps, spinach-artichoke dip and chips, grapes and cookies.

Whew! Wheat harvest is busy, busy, busy! But I did find time to check in with my friends, Grandpa's cats and kittens.

 

I'm always glad to visit the farm. I couldn't wait to go back and tell all my friends that I am a harvest helper. I'm not sure Grandpa and Grandma could have done it without me. As a matter of fact, once I left, they had combine problems. But that's a story for another day. I'll leave my Grandma to tell it.

Until next time,
Kinley Marie

Silver Linings

I am a farm girl with a harvest birthday. My childhood birthdays had cake and homemade ice cream squeezed in at noon before we went back to the field. So my biggest birthday wish yesterday was to get lots of wheat cut.

That didn't happen.

We were broken down most of the day. Even after Randy went to Hutchinson AND Great Bend for parts, we were still out of commission. (I volunteered to go on the parts runs, but he needed to consult with the mechanical gurus in search of solutions.)

However, there were some silver linings.

• The custom cutters arrived and began cutting over west sooner than expected. So, even though we personally cut only one combine bin yesterday, some of our crop got cut and hauled to the co-op.
• The guys had a great lunch (if I do say so myself.) I chose enchiladas and fixings, plus frozen lemonade dessert, for my birthday meal.
• We didn't get the hail they kept talking about on TV last evening. (I don't know whether we got damage from the winds. However, after a quick perusal of Facebook this morning, I know we are far better off than a lot of people after high winds, rain and hail pummeled other of my farm friends across the state.)
• The skies were beautiful.

The biggest silver lining of all? This little family showed up about 9 PM last night.

I was TOTALLY surprised! I was so surprised I didn't take even one photo last evening. Even though she was almost sleep-walking tired, we could tell Kinley was looking for the usual box of toys. So Grandpa brought it upstairs and we played a little and read books before bedtime.

Now that was one big silver lining! Let's hope today brings the right part for the combine and that we're able to introduce Kinley (and Eric) to wheat harvest.

Harvesting Wonder: Through the Eyes of a Child

Our little visitor ran as fast as his 2-year-old legs could carry him.

"Truck, truck, truck," Ricky repeated with the same cadence as his tennis-shoed feet hit the dirt road. 

As he neared the combine and its roaring engine, Ricky was a little less confident about his introduction to wheat harvest. First off, it required getting boosted into that big, loud machine with Randy.

Yes, Ricky knows us from his Sunday mornings at Stafford UMC, where his mom, Amy, is our pastor (until after this Sunday when we have the Methodist minister migration). But until Pastor Jeff (better known to Ricky as Daddy) joined them in the combine cab, Ricky was none too pleased to begin his career as a farm helper.

 

Even after his Dad joined him on the combine cab jump seat, he was less than impressed. As the door shut on a crying little boy and Amy watched them pull away, she said, "This may be a short trip."

But, as soon as the combine started moving, Randy reports that Ricky's eyes got big and the crying stopped.

Photo collage by me from another day

The combine swallowed up a swath of the waving wheat in front of him and spit the chaff out the back, and Ricky's big eyes took in all the moving parts.

Inside the combine cab photos by Jeff Slater

Randy reports that Ricky didn't have much to say. But he was taking it all in as the combine lumbered its way down a half mile and back again.

As they came back toward the road, Ricky waved to his Mom before he was distracted by the grain flowing from the combine into the truck.

The truck was full and ready to go to the elevator. But there was another truck to fill, and the guys were off again in a quest to fill up the next one.

"I guess he likes it after all," Amy said as we waved and watched them make two more down-and-back trips.

Harvest is hungry work, so Ricky needed his own sack lunch after his ride.

Photo by Jeff Slater

The harvest lunch lady should have brought a straw for the water bottle.

But she did bring a Rice Krispie treat and grapes. Those were more important anyway.

Every harvester needs helpers. Besides Farmer Randy, who provided an introduction to life on the farm, Ricky had his own camera crew to record the event.

As for us, it's always good to look at harvest through new eyes - especially reflected in the eyes of a 2-year-old visitor (or a 4-year-old visitor, like last year.)

Happy Day to my birthday buddy, Ricky. He turns 2 today. I turn 2 + 54 today. (Happy Birthday also to my other birthday buddies, Keva, Sarah, Rachel and Lawrence. I share this day with lots of good friends! And for the first time in several years, I also share it with harvest. And that's OK. That's how I grew up, too.)

I would have celebrated my 7th birthday Harvest 1964.

This John Deere combine was "born" the same year I was. It looks a little different than its counterparts today.

My, how times have changed - for combines and for birthday girls!