Steph: Harvester’s hangout

Pine Bluffs, Wyoming – Anderson Harvesting is at its first standstill of the harvest 2017 season. Farmer Lance, with his 25 bushel average/62 pound test weight crop, is all cut up and now the real question arises; where do we go from here? John’s ear and his phone have been inseparable for the past few days and the decision is still up in the air. But, as Papa T said, “you go where the wheat is ripe.” Western ND is looking like the best bet!

So, since I’m running low on harvest action, I’m going to try something a little different. I’ve decided to call this little segment the “harvester’s hangout”.  What this will be is me telling three harvester tales of yesteryear. Imagine a room full of harvesters with their scuffed up boots and ball caps in a cafe, exchanging laughs and stories with one another for hours and hours; that’s the feel I’m going for. So, grab a nice cup of coffee and have a comfortable seat because that’s how the best tales are received.

  1. Back in the days when my family hired a crew to go on the harvest run, my mom would clean their trailer AND our family’s (bless her heart). She was changing the sheets on one of the beds and found a list of reasons why they disliked my dad. The number one reason? He is a, “window washing freak”. It must be genetic because I would call myself the same thing.
  2. One year, we had a hired hand that we nicknamed “bug boy”. He was the grain cart operator. However, whenever you would call for him over the radio, you would look over and see the door of the tractor wide open and him running through the field. Turns out, he was chasing bugs around. He would also put those bugs in my brothers bed. For his reward, he got a one-way ticket bus ride back home a few weeks into harvest.
  3. Since I brought up “bug boy”, I might as well tell another about him. That first rainy day, we loaded up the crew and took them to Wal-Mart. This guy could not spend his money fast enough. He bought a PlayStation gaming system, countless DVDs, clothes and even a laser tag set. That evening, my brother and I, “bug boy” and a one other hired hand (these were grown men, by the way) ran around the campground having an intense laser-war.

There are many, many stories but these are the first few that popped into my head. Maybe another segment to come in the future?

Enjoy and happy harvest!

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and John Deere. You can contact Steph at stephanie@allaboardharvest.com.

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