Scott: Harvest is just around the corner

Scott Clark returns to All Aboard as a guest blogger. Scott will be blogging for the American Quality Harvest Crew throughout the summer. This week Scott talks about starting harvest a little later than planned and how the crew stays busy.

American Quality Harvesting has not yet begun harvesting, but many harvesters have been in the fields of Texas for over a week. Farmers and harvesters in the area expressed that the yields have been in the range of 16 to 26 bushels per acre with high test weights around 60 to 63 pounds. Most crews have already started moving north to the Clinton, Okla., or even further north. The remaining harvesters in southern Oklahoma are predominately waiting on insurance adjusters and farmers to make a decision on whether or not to harvest certain fields in the area.  Many farmers have said it’s surprising some wheat even made 20 bushels per acre since some fields were planted with little moisture and have received little or no rain in eight months.

Many custom harvesters rely on their own farming operation or other lines of work such as hauling grain with the harvest trucks to stay busy and generate revenues through the winter. Here at American Quality, we utilize over-the-road trucking and trailer manufacturing to provide year-round employment for our crew members, and to supplement our harvesting business. These entities are crucial to us this year. Due to the severe drought we did not have any wheat to harvest south of Interstate 40 and have lost nearly 5,000 acres of wheat in Kansas.

Our crew has been manufacturing new combine and header trailers. We also alter older models for other crews. Our number one concern is safety—we provide a heavy-duty product that will carry today’s heavy machinery. As federal and state regulations change, we alter older units and design new products to comply with the new laws. One of the new products is an ergonomic trailer that allows users to load faster, and safely secure loads while transporting. This market allows us to stay busy throughout the winter and spring.

The crew members have been busy cleaning and loading up equipment and doing last minute maintenance. We want to make sure all of our equipment is up for the challenge of wheat harvest.

Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas all experienced bad weather last week. Although several twisters were a matter of miles from our own families in Chickasha, Oklahoma City, Stillwater, Fairview, and Joplin, thankfully none of them were hurt. However, not everyone was so lucky. All of us at American Quality Harvesting, DuPont, and the High Plains Journal would like to send our prayers and sympathy to the Hamil family who lost two of their children in the Piedmont, Okla., tornado last week. For more information about helping their family, visit the US Custom Harvesters webpage at: http://www.uschi.com/. God bless all of our followers and remember to take Mother Nature and weather alerts seriously.

Here are some photos that were taken by my sister, Kassidy.

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Tuning up a truck engine to gain increased horsepower and longevity—A delayed harvest this year allowed us to perform preventative maintenance that we wouldn’t typically have time to do.

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As equipment models change from year to year, customers need their trailers modified to accompany the equipment changes. Here, we converted a pintle-hook trailer into a fifth wheel.

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We provide farmers and harvesters with custom trailers of all lengths to meet their every need while complying with the department of transportation, and deliver them all over the US.

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We provide farmers and harvesters with custom trailers of all lengths to meet their every need while complying with the department of transportation, and deliver them over the US.
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Jesse brushes down the area Justin can’t reach on one of our tractors.

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Kevin finishing welding on a new rear bumper assembly while Randy installs new brake hoses on our tanker trailer.

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The crew. (Left to Right) Randy, Travis, Jesse, Justin, Garrett, Dalton

Thanks again to my sister Kassidy for snapping these photos for me.

For more information contact crew@allaboardharvest.com. All Aboard 2011 is sponsored by High Plains Journal and DuPont Crop Protection.

 

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