24 Jun Janel: Tough luck

Southwest Oklahoma–Wheat harvest has just been full of tough luck lately. The weather has delayed our progress at our first stop. It’s getting late and we need to get the wheat cut here so we can move up the road.  We caught another rain last night. We just can’t roll. It feels like we have not had a big day of cutting yet. We want to get over some acres and get the grain hauled to the elevator but the weather has been challenging.

The wheat has been yielding 35 to 65 bushels per acre. The test weights have been over 60 pounds per bushel. The wheat has been 12 to 15% moisture. We’ve had highs in the 90s but a lot of humidity and heavy dews in the mornings. We need heat, sunshine and wind to get this show on the road. We have quite a ways to go yet before we get finished up here. We are going to be behind for a while. I wonder when and where we’ll catch back up to the harvest. I am now hearing reports that the southern Kansas wheat harvest is starting.

Our ten-day forecast is hot and sunny with highs in the upper 90s and into the 100s. We have been dealing with mud in the fields which is no fun at all. The farmers don’t want tracks in the fields so we have left a few mud holes. The conditions overall have been giving us tough luck. I just want to cut wheat all day every day but Mother Nature has been a battle recently.

Janel Schemper can be reached at janel@allaboardharvest.com.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by Case IH, Unverferth Manufacturing Co., Inc., BASF, Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children, Gleaner, ITC, Westbred, Huskie, Western Equipment, US Custom Harvesters, and High Plains Journal.   

We have wheat to cut. I just wish the humidity would go away so we could start cutting earlier in the day.

This half section of wheat made 68 bushels per acre.

Harvesting wheat. I want all the combine time I can get. I love it.

I was waiting on my tractor grain cart so I could unload my full hopper of wheat. It rained 3 inches after midnight and I wasn’t even expecting it. The weather has definitely been unpredictable recently. 

Loading on the road because it’s too wet in the field now.

I love these grain carts.

I am tired of the rain. It’s making a mess for us harvesters.

I’ve cut the field on the right many times before. It’s currently wet.

Lots of water in the ditches and this field.

A nice road to travel on and I love it when there isn’t any traffic.

Another field of wheat to cut.  

Finishing up the field in the dark.

Cutting wheat late at night.

I made chocolate cake with frosting and homemade ice cream.

So humid in the mornings.

Another humid morning.

Cutting another field late at night.

This field was too muddy as well so we had to load on the road.

Going to another field.

I hauled a load of wheat to the elevator.

Driving my tractor and grain cart to the next field. I can’t believe they let trees grow in the roadway.

Cutting wheat on another humid day. It wasn’t a good drying day.

Moving to another field. Bridge signs should be breakaways like they all are where I am from in Nebraska.  Luckily my header tilts and I fit right over these ones but it’s just tough going.

A stray dog that’s been hanging around since we showed up May 25. We call her Lady Daga. She is very sweet.

Cutting wheat.

Harvesting wheat. This field was soft and we went through quite a bit of mud to get it cut.

Sterling reads the High Plains Journal. 

The corn is tasseling here. With all the rain it is looking very good like a pivot irrigated crop.

This field is full of cotton stalks. It makes me upset because I am so worried about wrecking my brand new tires on the cotton stalks. It also sounds awful running them through the header and the combine. A risk that I don’t like at all.

Cutting cotton stalk wheat and a storm is approaching. 

We can’t use the tractor grain cart on this field because of the cotton stalks. They will go right through the tires. I love cutting wheat but I am miserable cutting cotton stalks.