19 Aug Emma: Finished in Gregory and on to Sioux Falls Area

Gregory is off of the map for Misener Family Harvesters, and that means we’re off to a new place.  Normally around this time of year we move to Rolla, N.D., which is 10 miles from Canada. This year we have changed our plans and are moving to the Sioux Falls, S.D., area. This isn’t exactly what we wanted to do, but many farmers in the Dakota’s had issues with spring planting. Our farmers in Rolla didn’t get all of their fields planted because of the wet conditions and only got 30 percent of their acres in.

With only 30 percent of their acreage planted we can’t afford to move the entire convoy 450 miles to cut less than half the normal acreage. This isn’t a problem for our farmers there because they have combines that usually run with ours, so this year they will harvest themselves. This is a problem for us because when farmers struggle, harvesters and the entire ag industry struggle. We may be out of a harvesting job, but we’ve always got something to keep us busy.

We went ahead and moved to Sioux Falls because this is where we do our fall harvesting. This means that with Gregory in the books, our summer wheat harvest is completed. We have cut our last wheat crop for the 2011 season, which is kind of bittersweet. It’s a good feeling knowing we’re moving on to fall harvest, but sad because the end of the year is approaching and we won’t be on the road anymore. I really enjoy our lifestyle and love the traveling, and people we meet along the way.

To keep busy until fall crops are ready we had a few calls from a few farmers for combine repair and getting them field ready. This is definitely something we can do for them, and we’re happy to be busy – rebuilding combines is what we do in the winter months.

Be safe and God bless.

Emma can be reached at emma@allaboardharvest.com. All Aboard 2011 is sponsored by High Plains Journal and DuPont Crop Protection.