Wheat Harvest from the Sidelines

Notice that the grain cart tractor has tracks to make it easier to get through muddy conditions.

Randy hasn't been in the "pilot" seat of the combine for three years now. But he still finds a way to hitch a ride in the buddy seat. 

From our last harvest as active farmers - Taken June 13, 2022, on the first day of harvest that year.

You can take the farmer out of active farming. But you can't take away the interest ... even from the sidelines.

 

Our wheat was harvested by Frederick Harvesting based in Alden last Friday, June 27. Tye and Todd, who now farm our ground, contract with Frederick's to custom harvest their crop on their owned and rented farm ground. It didn't take long for two custom machines to get through our wheat acres, since Millers only planted 100 acres to wheat on us this year.

Randy had ridden with the harvesting crew earlier Friday afternoon as they worked on ground we had previously rented and farmed. During a ride on both the grain cart and the combine, he had learned that they would likely move to our ground later that afternoon and evening. 

 

It was my birthday, Randy had planned to take me Hutchinson for supper and a few errands. When we found out the timing, I volunteered to postpone my celebration. It certainly wouldn't be the first time my birthday and wheat harvest coincided. During my childhood and youth, harvest often overlapped with my birthday. As farm partners for the past 44 years, the harvest and birthday collision continued, though the start of harvest has seemed to creep earlier and earlier during our married life. However, I spent plenty of birthdays in the harvest truck, delivering meals, making parts runs or riding in the combine.

A long-ago harvest as the wheat truck driver at my parents' farm in Pratt County

However, Randy said we would continue with the birthday plans.  As we returned from Hutchinson near dusk, we saw two combines in the field on our ground. Randy went home and changed clothes and then went to the field to catch another ride. I told him to send me photos. Usually, that means I get a couple of hastily-snapped pictures. But I guess it was a birthday gift that he pulled through with a few more this time!

Kim's County Line photo From 2022

It's different for the family writer and photographer to be on the sidelines, too. I've literally taken  thousands of harvest photos during my lifetime. But I was glad to get a few photos from Randy anyway!

 

It's kind of an inside family joke that Randy was always glancing at the yield monitor while he harvested wheat. His attraction to the yield monitor has not faded, since that was one of the photos I received. 

I also got several showing the number of pounds that went into the grain cart. 

 

This harvest has been quite a marathon for Kansas farmers in our area. While farmers are reluctant to complain about summer rains, intermittent rain showers - and some gully washers - have made for a stop-and-start harvest. 

Frederick Harvesting used a tractor with tracks to help them traverse muddy fields.  

 Quality and yield have gone down for many - right along with downed wheat.  

 

Since I began blogging in 2010, I have kept track of the start date for wheat harvest. 

2010:  June 18
2011:  June 10
2012:  May 26 (an anomaly and the earliest harvest, by far, we've ever had)
2013:  June 21
2014:  June 17
2015:  June 20
2016:  June 15
2017:  June 12
2018: June 12
2019: June 26
2020: June 16

2021: June 17

2022: June 13

2023: June 28 

2024: June 12

2025: June 27 

 

From our last harvest as active farmers - June 2022

We don't have the yield totals for our wheat crop this year. Harvesting crews are more concerned about getting to the next farm and farmer's wheat crop than recapping yields from already harvested clients. And that's the way it should be. We will find out eventually. After watching the yield monitor, Randy thinks it was better than he expected after listening to other area farmers, so we'll see.  

 

A selfie - Harvest 2022

Our Excellent Adventure: Branson

Destination: Branson.

Randy and I had visited Branson during Christmas time 2023. We thought it might be a fun place to take Kinley and Brooke. It was a relatively short drive from Topeka to Branson, giving us more time to actually enjoy the activities. We wanted to do it before the full heat of the Ozark heat and humidity hit, so we went the first week of June. I had cataract removal and a glaucoma stent surgery in one eye May 19, and my eyesight is less than ideal at the moment. But we still had a great time, and I hope we created some memories for the girls. Both Jill and Eric remember grandparent trips they took as kids. 

We didn't do a lot of repeat activities. But there was one I wanted to do for sure. I thought The Butterfly Palace would be a fun place for Kinley and I to accomplish some 4-H photography. And I had loved it on our first visit. In a simulated rainforest, there were more than 1,000 live exotic butterflies imported from their native countries. 

Photo by Kinley

We thought there were even more butterflies to view on this trip, compared to the first time we visited. 

Besides visiting the rain forest, we watched the 3-D Flight of the Butterflies movie to learn more about the Monarch Migration.

The girls were bigger fans of the Mirror Maze than grandma and grandpa were. But we all loved the colorful butterflies.

 

The girls and Randy even got to release some butterflies into the enclosure.

If you know Randy, you know that a magic show was also on his travel itinerary. Randy and I had seen a magic show the last time we were in Branson, but this was a different magician and show. 

 

 

 Randy even got chosen for part of the show. Of course, our amateur magician loved that! 

Our second day was a more active day. Last time we were in Branson, we'd seen Fritz's Adventure. 

 

  

Since Fritz was Randy's high school and college nickname, we stopped and he bought a t-shirt there during our first trip, but we didn't actually do any of the activities. 

 

  

Still, we put it in the back of our minds for a possible destination for the girls. 

 

Once there, first stop was getting harnessed up. (I also texted Jill to say I'd just signed waivers for the girls, saying I wouldn't sue the company if there were an accident. Thankfully, I got a thumbs-up back!)

 

Grandpa had to sign his own waiver (though Kinley helped him navigate the sign-up kiosk!) Grandma stayed firmly on solid ground and took lots of photos.

 

Even though they were firmly strapped in, it may have created a little "Grandma anxiety." But they loved it. Grandpa predicted he'd be sore the next day. He was.

Brooke excelled at the climbing wall.

 I couldn't believe her upper body strength!

 

Grandpa photo bombed Kinley's selfie taken at a photo station high above. 

 

 Next stop that day was Wonder Works. 

 

The last time we were in Branson, we'd stayed across the street from this topsy-turvy interactive museum. 

Photo of the outside of the building from the internet

It was one activity after another, including a photo op. 

WonderWorks is a science focused indoor amusement park that combines education and entertainment. 

It has more than 100 hands-on exhibits with varying degrees of skill and danger.

 

We made music.

 They "rode" snow boards.

They rode the Wonder Coaster. 

My heart might have been in my throat when I watched them on this ride that went all the way around - just from their furious pedaling.

My anxiety level could again decrease as they made life–sized bubbles. 

 They got some simulated NASA training in the Astronaut Training Gyro.

 The museum also promoted exercising your mind. Grandma is all for that!

The next day was a roller coaster kind of day for Randy and the girls at Silver Dollar City.  But first, they had to get their bearings. 

Randy has always been a map lover. In fact, it's kind of a family inside joke. Maybe it's genetic?

Their favorite roller coaster was the Time Traveler, but they rode all the coasters multiple times. 

They thought Fire in the Hole was a little tame, but they loved Wildfire.

At first, Kinley wasn't interested in getting on the giant swing. But they all ended up riding it multiple times because there wasn't a line.

 My only ride was the train. However, I was a champion holder of all things. That is a good commodity for roller coaster riders. Thankfully, there were plenty of shaded seats outside those venues. 

That night, we went to the Dolly Parton Stampede. 

We had told the girls that they'd have to eat with their hands. But unlike our visit in December 2023, we got a fork this time. That was handy for the mashed potatoes, among others things. 

The server joked with Kinley and gave her one Cornish hen wing to begin with. He had actually run out of meat in a tray. When he came back, he asked if she was still hungry. He gave her another wing. But then she got the whole Cornish hen. She was a good sport about it!

They put on a spectacular show. We didn't know if the girls would think it was hokey, but they really seemed to like it. 

 The theme this summer was butterflies, and it was beautiful.

But there was plenty of Old West imagery, too, along with horseback acrobats. We were sitting near one of the entrances for the performers, and the girls seemed to really enjoy watching the logistics of the show. 

Before we left for home, Randy wanted to share a little magic with the girls. He'd purchased a card trick for each of them at the magic shop at Silver Dollar City. They got a little magic lesson in the hotel room.

On the way home, we stopped by Kansas City to see Brent, Susan and their new puppy, Clover. 

The girls had already met her, but it was Randy and my first introduction.

Clover is a golden retriever. 

Besides taking the girls to a variety of Branson attractions, we also indoctrinated them on the fine music of the 1970s. 

We had them singing along by the end. It's always good to educate the next generation on the important things of life.