06 Jul Jada: A day of cutting in Colby, KS

Just the other day, I laughed as I read Jenna’s photo captions on the beautiful wheat they were cutting in Deerfield. It might just be a “harvester/ farmer” thing, but I understand the feeling she had. And the beauty does extend to toddlers too!

After a two day break, Hoffman Harvesting found ourselves back in the field in Colby, KS with the same grin Jenna had.  It was another triple digit day and we were happy to enjoy it in the field. The yields were in the 70’s which had our truckers and grain cart operator running all day. The test weights were in the 60’s and the moisture was around 11 percent. According to the Gem elevator moisture hasn’t been an issue thus far. The test weights they have been seeing are ranging from the upper 50’s to 60’s. The Gem elevator said harvest started a week ago and was slow the past two days due to rains the area received.  I tried to get a handle on the protein but they don’t have a machine to test it. I often get asked about protein from northerners- they can be docked on their grain tickets if their protein is low- but it isn’t important where we cut in the south and often goes untested.

Wheat is pretty even to toddlers!

Due to recent rains we had to park the trucks on the road to avoid getting stuck.

A parked truck waits to get dumped on as a combine cuts wheat in the background.

Management! Someone has to do it.

A beautiful harvest day in Colby KS. High yields had the truckers and the grain cart operator running.

Yea! A truck returns to the field just in time.

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