28 Jun Jada: A whirlwind harvest in Pratt Kansas

Upon our arrival in Pratt, Hoffman Harvesting has had a whirlwind harvest. We are still split up two ways. Some of the crew is cutting North of town in Iuka while some South in Coates. The wheat is looking really good with yields ranging from the 40’s to 70’s while test weights have ranged 59 to 61.

Ross, our farmer in the Iuka area, returns from a ride around his field with Oak.

Oak holding Kaidence, James, Ross and Jeannie take time to pose in the field.

Conditions are dry in Sawyer while Iuka, which has seemed to have perfectly timed rains from germination to harvest, has had some muddy fields. In fact, rumor says I got stuck while paying more attention to snapping photos than driving … but what goes on in our Iuka field stays in the Iuka field! ; )

Theo dumps seed wheat on our farmer’s truck. It’s amazing how things have changed with time. Theo admitted he was a nervous wreck dumping on this truck but as you can see he did good!

Pratt is one of the most beautiful places for sunsets.

While the harvest has been going quickly here, things haven’t been running exactly smoothly. Breakdowns haven’t been a stranger to us on this stop. A return elevator, a belt on the return auger and 2 blown front tires on the same combine in one day at different times, have been making harvest a struggle for the guys in Coates. We have been wishing for better days ahead. Thankfully we have had help. John Deere Harvester Works and Cooper Tires came out to our field to help us out.

Theo dumps Adam frequently to buy time before our tire damaged from a deer’s antler goes flat again. The hole is too big to repair and a tire this size isn’t always on hand at the local tire shop.

Cooper Tires of Pratt comes to our rescue. Little did we know that 2 hours later the tire would get ruined again by a well pipe. 

The weather continues to be hot. Yesterday, temperatures were up to 110 until around 6 p.m. where the weather dropped to 69 in about 15 minutes and the sky turned dark. We received a rain shower that put us out of commission for the evening, but we were able to get started today due to the dry conditions of the area. Rain is needed everywhere! The whirlwind harvest continues as this morning we are now split three ways. Two of our crew members headed up to Scott City to harvest some wheat there.

In attempts to keep the produce cool and protected from the 110 degree heat outdoors (the produce is right by the entrance), the Pratt Walmart covers their coolers in plastic.

We always try to find some time to do normal summer activities- here is Kaidence at her first ever swimming lesson.

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