Wheat Harvest: Now That's a Wrap!

Wheat Harvest 2018 is now in the rear view mirror.

We finished up June 29 after starting on June 12. Well, we tried to start on June 12 and would have, except for the raccoon going through the combine. That delayed the start to June 14. We then limped along with repeated visits from the Case repair guy because of an engine power problem, unrelated to the raccoon. We finally started making headway on June 17, a good Father's Day gift for my farmer.

This year's start date was consistent with recent history. (I have good records since 2010 because I've been blogging that long). Our start dates are:

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 (sort of)

Because of the rough start to harvest, we opted to have a custom cutter harvest 290 acres of our 1,321 acres this year. Even though it's an added expense we'd prefer not to have, we're glad we did it now, after having several days of rain. And, no, we aren't complaining about the rain or cooler temperatures that arrived June 22-26. The rains were beneficial to corn, feed, alfalfa and pastures.

But, back to wheat harvest. Yield averages in the past few years have been:

2010: 37.2 bu/acre
2011: 36.7 bu/acre
2012: 45.5 bu/acre
2013: 52 bu/acre
2014: 24.5 bu/acre
2015: 50 bu/acre
2016: 48.5 bu/acre
2017: 50.84 bu/acre
2018: 39.2 bu/acre

Our 2018 average was 39.2 bu/acre. We had a low average of 11 bushels an acre and a high of 56 bushels per acre. Most of it was in the 35 to 45 bushels per acre range. The 11 bushels an acre was on ground the landlord bought primarily for hunting, so it's less productive ground. Because of our dry fall and winter, much of it didn't come up until the spring. That put green heads among the dry heads, which was one reason for the delay in cutting and the poor quality.

Used the "painting" setting on the camera for a different look

After being in an exceptional drought category for much of the winter and spring, Randy was pleased with the yield totals. Some late spring rains came at just the right time for the filling of the wheat heads, and we are thankful!

Randy is always thankful for harvest pie, too. He doesn't get dessert all the time. Blueberry pie with crumb topping makes harvest a little more palatable and was my Father's Day gift to him. (Here's a two-crust version at this link.)

Photo taken June 22, 2017 - Wheat Harvest 2017

Wheat Harvest 2018 isn't just about cutting wheat in June. It actually started with Wheat Harvest 2017. (Notice how I capitalize Wheat Harvest. It's a "Big Deal" to our farm. By far, wheat is our biggest crop.) Each year, we plant some certified seed, which we use for seed wheat for the following year. Randy binned KanMark (a K-State release) and WB 4458 (a WestBred variety) to plant for seed wheat for our 2018 crop. During the 2017 harvest, we binned the seed wheat in on-farm storage.

Then, last July, we took the wheat to be cleaned to Miller Seed Farms. (See blog post: A Kernel of the Process: Cleaning Seed Wheat.)

In October 2017, we planted the 2018 wheat crop. (Read more about it here: Planting Wheat, Harvesting the Sky.)

 

The lack of moisture was a concern during the winter and spring. In fact,  November 2017 to January 2018 ranked as the driest (lowest precipitation) on record for Kansas, receiving less than 25 percent of normal precipitation for that time period.  (Read more about it here: Precipitation Woes.)

 

Our first measurable precipitation on the 2018 wheat crop after planting came in late March. (Read more here: Million Dollar Rain?)

Because of cooler temperatures and slow growing in April, a freeze didn't nip the growing point in our fields. (Read more here: Rain, Rain, Come Again Another Day.)

 

The wheat was heading by early May. (Read more here: April Showers.)

And then the main event came in June. Cutting wheat is usually Randy's favorite time of the year.

You sure can't beat the scenery seen from the elevated vantage point of a combine cab. (The poem in the photo above was written by a Kansas poet who lived for a time in Belpre, a town in the county to our west. Fittingly, her husband ran the grain elevator there.)

However, this year's harvest wasn't all beautiful scenery, as evidenced by Randy shaking out the air filter ... yet again. But there was plenty of good, too.

The last of that combine bin trickles out as the last bit of light fades from the sky.

And that, as they say in show business, is a wrap.

THE END ... until a new beginning for Wheat 2019.

I Won't Worry 'Bout a Thing (And Other Harvest Lies)

Don't Worry 'Bout a Thing from Kim Fritzemeier on Vimeo.

Free like a bird in the big blue sky 
Not a cloud or a care for a million miles
I won't worry, worry 'bout a thing.

God loves me and He loved me first

He rescued me when I was in a lurch

And I won’t worry, worry about a thing.

To the left I’ll fly, fly, fly

To the right, I’ll glide, glide, glide.
No, and I won't worry, worry 'bout a thing!
Gonna scoop down low, low, low
Gonna soar up high, high, high.

And I won’t worry, worry about a thing.

 ***

I've chosen an unlikely theme song for harvest this year. Or maybe it chose me.

I have been singing snippets of the catchy, Calypso-style tune ever since I heard it at Kinley's VBS program June 10. This past weekend, two little harvest helpers sang with me and even added in the actions during a trip to the grocery store for more harvest supplies.

"No, Grandma! It's like this," Brooke insisted when I didn't comply and do the actions, too.

It's a great message. But, if I'm honest, I've had a little more trouble actually believing it.

I'm in good company.

 

On the Monday after a fun-filled week of VBS, when Kinley was hesitant about returning to day camp, I asked her, "Don't you remember that song? The one that talked about letting your worries fly, fly, fly away?" She just looked at me with sleepy eyes, but maybe she'll remember the next time she's anxious.

 

I'm great at giving advice about not worrying. But then we got home from Manhattan.

Randy went to the combine to do a test cut to see if we could get Wheat Harvest 2018 underway (way back on June 12). I thought I'd get a phone call from him, telling me it was a "go" or "no go." But I didn't expect the one I got.

"Well, we've had a disaster," he said.
My stomach clinched, and my heart went into my throat.

"A raccoon went through the radiator, the fan and the belts," he said, the frustration practically making the phone lines quiver.

"Can I do anything?" I asked
"No, I've been on the phone to Case, and I'm waiting for someone to call me back."

So what did I do? I worried. I asked God, "Why?" And I worried some more.

Maybe I should have had a week of VBS ... especially if the theme was Shipwrecked: Rescued by Jesus.

Though we're in landlocked Kansas, I needed my own sea rescue ... in a sea of amber waves of grain without a way to harvest it.

Thankfully, Case had all the parts. They spent all day on Wednesday, June 13, fixing the combine. It was a humid day, and we would have had to start late and quit early if we'd gotten to cut at all, making my farmer a little more relaxed than he'd have been otherwise.

We got a call about 7 o'clock that evening, saying that by the time we got to Hutchinson, the combine would be ready to go.

I would like to say I quit worrying then. I know the Bible says not to worry. However, knowing it and practicing it are two different things. There had already been two fatality accidents on Kansas highways that day. What if someone wasn't paying attention to the flashing lights on our slow-moving vehicle and crashed into Randy?

What if? What if? What if? My mind could come up with plenty of disaster scenarios.

After a few miles on busy U.S Highway 50 into the setting sun, Randy turned off onto country roads. Two hours later, he called me to pick him up at the field. He was home. None of the "shipwreck" imaginings actually happened. I said a "thank You" prayer and may have hummed that VBS song under my breath yet again.

We started cutting wheat on Flag Day June 14. Or so we thought.

It took awhile for Randy to get the combine adjusted. He was rolling ... and then, there was another breakdown ... and another call to Case.

Jill and Eric and the girls had planned to come out for a harvest weekend. We warned them that things were not in full swing, but they decided to come anyway. Though the rides had more stops and starts than a trip down a traffic-light-littered Main Street, they did a little riding.

And then we shared our bad luck with them. Randy has been excited to take the girls to a neighbor's enchanted forest he's constructed in a shelterbelt. Randy even started his own mini version across the road from our house (more on that later). However, the early Saturday morning walk had an unexpected encounter with all kinds of wildlife. A deer dashing and crashing through the shelterbelt sent Kinley running into her mom's arms.

And then, when we were almost to the end of the path, we made our acquaintance with a skunk. Brooke got the worst of it, but Kinley and I also had to take our turns ridding our bodies of the stink. Jill had a whiff of it, too, where she'd picked up Brooke to carry her after the "incident."

For the record, tomato juice is not the best skunk deodorizer. Hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and Dawn dishwashing soap are our recommendation. Thankfully, most of the odor was below the knees. After repeated scrubbings (and about an hour and a half later), we were deemed odor-free.

Since I did not get a photo of our wildlife adventures, Kinley drew a picture of our enchanted forest encounter. (Click on the photo to make it bigger and see the detail.) I hope we are not forever known as the smelly grandparents.

It literally took until the evening of June 16 to get the combine running correctly. Both Randy and I are dreading the bill from Case. The repair guy has practically become part of the family, he was out at our farm so often in the past week.

The other Randy, the Case repair guy, joined us for a harvest picnic Saturday evening. (He was offered meals at other times, too, but that was the first time he accepted the invitation.)

I think the girls enjoyed the picnic more than the guys, who were at peak frustration by that time.

Randy got the perfect Father's Day gift on Sunday, June 17. It was literally our first full day of cutting since our first attempt on Tuesday.

Bottom photos are by Kinley and Brooke

He had some good helpers before they left to drive back home. (And to stop on the way home for new tennis shoes for Brooke, whose shoes had a pungent reminder of her trip to the farm.)

The girls were the perfect antidote to a frustrated farmer.

Before the ill-fated walk in the "Enchanted" forest.

They love the kitties just as much as Grandpa does.

 

They got to encounter less smelly wildlife in our hired man's vegetable garden on Sunday before church. Bunnies are definitely better than skunks!

They soared on the backyard swing, where Brooke - our little daredevil - was delighted with "under doggies" and "touching the sky."

I really have that had the "don't worry" song as an "earworm" for a week now. And I think it was probably a good thing - even when I don't always successfully follow its message. Maybe I should get the CD. The theme song says:

Through every storm of life

I know You’re by my side.

So I am holding on to Your promises

You are the God who holds

My future, all my dreams

So I am holding on

You’ll never let go of me.

 We hope it's smoother sailing this week!