05 Oct My favorite time of year

Fall is my favorite time of the year, leaves changing colors, the cool crisp mornings, and fall harvest. Although it is fall, our weather does not make one believe it is. We have been in the 80s all week and even hit 96 degrees the first day we started beans around home. This weather is making bean harvest go rather quickly, that and the minimal rain we have received. The beans around home, near Bowdon, North Dakota, were not running as good as the beans up in Westhope or even Donnybrook so we have been able to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. The crew that was in Donnybrook finished last week after spending 6 weeks there cutting wheat, durum, canola and beans. They moved all five machines home until the next job was ready. It worked out perfectly for us as our beans were ready to cut along with the neighbors. Some of our local farmer’s beans were not quite rip yet so we hauled two combines to Esmond, North Dakota, to start the beans there. We should finish that job in about six days and head back home to finish our local guys.

The Westhope crew is still cutting beans and will jump right into corn harvest.

We now have three combines running near Jamestown for two different farmers and the beans there are averaging mid 20s.

We usually stay around North Dakota for fall harvest but this year we took on a corn job in Grant, Nebraska. We are working on this job with Justin Ashmore of A-Team Harvesting 2. We did two jobs with them this summer to help keep our machines and there’s going. It is really wonderful to see others helping others in this industry. If something comes up and we can’t get to a job or vice versa we know someone will be able to help out.

Fall harvest means it’s time for the kids to be back in school, and things are a little different for us this time of year. The kids and I stay home until the weekend and then we head to the camper, wherever it may be, and help. While I’m at home I make up meals to put in the freezer, I think I have made around 33 meals as of now, so it’s easy on the crew without me there and they get fed. My sister-in-laws are both currently up in Westhope with a crew and my mother-in-law is in Grant, Nebraska, with another crew. That means the kids and I take care of things around home or as we call it Neumillerville since we all live within a mile of each other.

Kimberly Neumiller can be reached at kimberly@allaboardharvest.com.

All Aboard Fall Harvest is brought to you by Pivot Bio, Western Equipment, John Deere, Unverferth Manufacturing and US Custom Harvesters.