05 Jul Laura: Extreme Weather

West central Oklahoma—It is ironic how incredibly different two back-to-back seasons can be. Last year, this area was suffering from very tough drought conditions. This year, creeks are high and soil moisture profiles full. Even though the ground held surprisingly well initially, eventually the continued rainstorms took their toll, making for challenging harvesting. Strong yields were the positive result of the wet weather as stated previously. Conditions are similar for our crew cutting in south central Kansas.

Part of the crew is harvesting in extreme southwest Kansas. As I drove along Highway 160 to meet up with them, I got to see some of the damage the area experienced from a recent hailstorm. It is always heartbreaking to see this type of destruction, especially days away from harvest when yields looked promising for families. The weather didn’t discriminate and took out fall crops too forcing difficult decisions for replanting.

I feel like talking about extreme weather has been a theme the past several seasons on this blog. I’m starting to question if there is a normal anymore or the extreme cycles are what we can expect.

It is all fun and games in the beautiful wheat until…

Until someone gets stuck!

Full streams.

Running in Oklahoma.

Found a dry patch!

Green machine and red dirt. We’re already decorated for Christmas!

The next truck ready for a load! 

Wheat!

Rain showers have kept the flowers in beautiful form!

Keeping things light is important in soft conditions. 

Corn looking rather tough in southwest Kansas after a recent hailstorm.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and John Deere. Laura Haffner can be reached at laura@allaboardharvest.com.