28 Jun Z Crew: Thank You, Oklahoma!

Shattuck, Oklahoma: I think it comes with the job, but our family has a tendency to get restless if we’re sitting anywhere more than two weeks. Jenna always used to refer to it as her “gypsy soul” always wanting to be on the move. After finishing our fields around Shattuck and Arnett, Okla., the combine and straight truck (the Frank) were driven to the last field. Thirty miles from Shattuck, and just south of Higgins, Texas the Z Crew finished cutting their last field at the first stop of wheat harvest 2013.

The first stop of the summer was a hot one. With temperatures clear up into 107 degrees and winds straight out of the south at 30 mph, the field was a hot and sticky place to be.  The crop yielded poorly and Mom was taking about two loads of grain to the elevator a day. She has the, let’s say, luxury of driving a truck without air conditioning but each time she was dumping at the elevator, Johnston Grain Company had a cooler of cold beverages for the drivers. At the moment, I’m listening to my parents rave about the great hospitality at the elevator. When you’re in a small town you’re not from, it’s great to interact with kind people who will help you out and not only get the job done, but work together.

Although we’re sad our first stop on the wheat harvest trail has come and gone, our gypsy souls are headed out of Oklahoma tomorrow. Dad and I will be taking the first trip up to Garden City, Kan. and if all goes as planned, return tomorrow night to take Callie, Mom and the trailer house on Saturday!

The combine pulling the header pulls into the last field in the area for the Z Crew.

Mom’s truck, the Frank, and the pickup wait patiently on the side of the road.

Dad’s old working hands threshing wheat for a quick quality check.

Dad climbs into the combine to open the field.

Taylor walks back to the pickup.

The combine makes it’s first round and “opens” the last field.

The Z Crew can be reached at zcrew@allaboardharvest.com. All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ is sponsored by High Plains Journal and Syngenta.