03 Jul Our Future

Sentinel, Ok — We have lots of riders here at MFH. Most of them are family. I’m glad they like to come out to the field so much. Somehow it makes my day go faster, smoother and it’s a happier day with them along. There is rarely a day in the field without my nephew Leslie. He LOVES harvesting! He begs me constantly to teach him to drive. He is 7 years old but thinks he is sufficiently old enough to run with the big dogs. Actually, he is very responsible for his age. I look at other kids his age and think, “Wow, did Dad really let me drive that pick up across the field or behind him moving down the road between fields when I was their age?” He had a LOT of faith in me! Then I look at Leslie and think, “Wow, when did he get to be so old and trustworthy?” I finally caved and let him take the wheel after many days of testing. My rule is that you cannot drive the machine if you don’t know how it works. I asked things like, “what does this button do?,” “what if a warning light goes off?,” “how do you stop?,” “what happens in case you smell smoke or see a fire?,” “what do you do in case of an emergency?” So, I am proud to say that Leslie passed the first round of testing with flying colors and was put in for a promotion! He got a crack at operating one of these big green machines. He answered all questions I asked him correctly, so how could I refuse? He has a hard time staying straight, but that seems to be the most common problem, especially with newbies. He was very attentive and payed close attention to every detail. His header height was perfect and his speed was fairly consistent. He’s not ready to be on his own, but I think with a year of practice, he could be making rounds. Honesty, I was more worried that the head was going to shut off because he didn’t weigh enough! Excellent job, Leslie! You’re hired!

He was concentrating so hard and he did an excellent job!

Be safe and God bless!

All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ is sponsored by High Plains Journal and New Holland Agriculture. Emma can be reached at emma@allaboardharvest.com.