Jada: Harvesting on the home front (South Dakota)

 When asked what my favorite stop is I wouldn’t be able to choose because they all make harvest complete; however, when asked what my least favorite stop is it would have to be home. Not because I am not excited to reunite with family and friends or because I finally get to step into my house and have (sigh) space or a real shower and toilet. (The list of benefits could go on so I will stop at this point 🙂 ) It is because the harvest life as you have known it collides with your at home life and things become hectic.

What have we been doing? Although too much to list I can list some highlights and basics….Leon, Kaidence and I took a “repair” trip to North- Central Iowa to get our dish I use for internet fixed and stopped along the way in Sioux Falls, SD for camper parts; we celebrated Kaidence’s 1st birthday once again to Leon’s dismay so the entire family could be there; my husband and family surprised me with a party for the big – 30. Yes, I joined the 3-O club on the 29th; I reorganized and repacked our camper because there are things you don’t need that when you packed you thought you’d need but are just taking up space in your camper and things you really do need for the next phase of harvest- such as warmer clothes. And harvest keeps going on around us.

We split up and were cutting in Hoven, Onaka and Gettysburg. Today the entire crew (minus two working on the farm) reunited in Gettysburg to harvest spring wheat. We will wrap up shortly and move back to our home base to begin spring wheat harvest in the Hoven, Bowdle and Eureka areas. With the weather and green wheat we have encountered in South Dakota, we are getting nervous because we are getting behind.  We have received word that our North Dakota jobs are getting ready so hopefully the weather will be on our side so we can get caught up.

The spring wheat is looking good as it averages around 60 bu/ ac. The elevators are not taking wheat over 13.5% moisture so we have been dumping in bins. Farmers are also utilizing their bins because there are predictions that the wheat prices will go up as the year progresses. Below are some pictures of us dumping in the bins and harvesting spring wheat in Gettysburg.

A back view of combines opening up a field for GPS.

 Cutting a field outside Gettysburg, S.D.

Gettysburg, S.D.

A roadside view of the action in Gettysburg.

Jada can be reached at jada@allaboardharvest.com. All Aboard 2010 Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and DuPont Crop Protection.

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