Janel: Working Til Midnight

Frederick, Oklahoma–We had a slow start due to a few rain showers but have finally gotten some decent harvest weather. Starting out we were sampling fields, some were ready but some were just not quite ready yet.  After the rains had passed all of the wheat was finally ready to be cut.  We’ve been putting in some longer days, too, which is great.

It hasn’t been easy though. We’ve had combines stuck in the mud and other harvest challenges.  We’ve had mostly 70 and 80 degree weather but typically when we’re here it’s in the 90s and 100s.  Some of the wheat has been very good but some has been not so good.  The wheat I have cut has ranged anywhere from 12 to 84 bushels per acre and the test weights ranged from 56 to 63 pounds per bushel.  The wheat that yielded poorly was heavily grazed by cattle.  The yields also depended on the timing of planting.  Overall, it just depended on if they got it planted before or after all of the rain they had last fall.

This used to be wheat country.  It was beautiful golden wheat field after wheat field.  Now there is so much cotton produced in this area.  People keep buying clothes so there’s a demand for cotton.  The wheat price is low and cotton is at a better price so it’s unfortunate for us that cotton is planted instead of wheat.

We’ve been working til midnight lately. The breeze picks up after dark allowing us to cut later.  Mother Nature bring it on!  I love getting the opportunity to work late!  It doesn’t happen often enough in my opinion.  It seems like we’ve been here at our first stop for a long time.  The rain delays and cooler temperatures have delayed harvest.  However, it finally feels like harvest is in full swing.  We go to the field at 7 a.m. to service the combines.  I always get dirty and covered in itchy chaff.  We fuel, grease and blow the combines and headers off and fix sickle sections and whatever else needs to be done.  I wash a lot of cab windows too.  It’s all part of being a harvester.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and John Deere.  Janel Schemper can be reached at janel@allaboardharvest.com.

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We shut down at midnight on June 13.

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Cutting a field next to the Red River.  Photo by Sunder Schemper.

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Boys will be boys!  Sunder playing in the red dirt! 

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A beautiful sky.

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Excellent quality wheat. 

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Sierra Schemper cutting wheat. 

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Racing the weather.  We got the field cut before it rained! 

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Unloading on the go. 

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Dark clouds.

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Sierra cutting wheat and racing the rain! 

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Rain in the distance. 

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This rain storm missed us, luckily!

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Sierra sampling wheat. 

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This is one reason why you hire a harvester!  We got the field cut right before it rained that night! 

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Nice wheat to cut! 

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Jared checking on a wheat field.

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A beautiful wheat crop that we harvested before the rain. 

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A beautiful wheat crop.

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Supper on the go!  I love this life!  

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Working til midnight on June 11 near the Red River!  

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A field we cut.  

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Photo by Janel Schemper.

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The fields are muddy so trucks park on the road and get loaded. Schemper Harvesting 2019

Harvesting wheat. 

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A pretty sunset.  Photo by Sage Schemper.

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Cutting wheat.  

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The things he says at only age 6 amaze me.  He’ll be boss soon!  

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The things he (Sage) says at only age 6 amaze me.  He’ll be boss soon! 

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Working til midnight again on June 11!  

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Cutting wheat.  

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A hopper full of seed wheat next to the Red River. 

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I love the scenery of harvest.  

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A herd audience next to the Red River.  

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I stopped for supper real quickly.  

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