08 Aug Brian: Healthy, wealthy and wise

Onida, South Dakota—Everyone can use some good advice from time to time. After 40 years of harvesting, we probably qualify to offer some helpful harvesting pointers. But there is always something more to learn in life, and I recently stumbled across an old saying that seemed worth sharing with you. Benjamin Franklin is well known for saying, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” The crew maybe has not been following the “early to bed” part, but the rest of this age-old proverb rings true this week.

The crew’s health has unfortunately taken a turn for the worse. Somehow virtually all of us have become sick to a varying degree. When you live in such small quarters and share everything from shampoo to steering wheels, it’s virtually impossible to not spread the germs picked up at the local elevator. Obviously this couldn’t come at a worse time, and everyone has just been trying to make it through our 15-hour days. It’s been pretty rough for a few of us, and if there has ever been pause in the action you’ll find someone laying on the floor of their cab trying to recuperate. Thankfully no one has been so sick they are unable to go to the field but feeling crummy sure makes these long days that much harder.

Custom harvesting has no guarantees of making you wealthy, but the good crop here in Sully County is helping everyone earn a few extra dollars. With 60- to 80-bushel wheat across the area, farmers are thankful to be filling bins and making sales at unusually high prices. I say it’s well deserved, but before you get to thinking everyone around here has been finalizing their winter cruise ship itinerary to some tropical place thanks to their new-found wealth keep in mind how much operational costs have increased. For farmers this has been a very expensive crop to put in the ground, so the extra-good yields may not leave too much left over to build up that bank account. Harvest crews have found tough, green straw in almost every field here. Compared to harvesting in drought-stricken Oklahoma and Kansas the combine’s diesel consumption has basically doubled. That’s a lot of additional fuel expense to go along with the many other rising costs associated with harvest.

It’s wise to always keep a positive attitude, and sometimes we all need reminded of that. The severe hailstorm that swept over this area left a lot of fields damaged, but some are simply unrecognizable from the destruction. It’s so easy to assume the worst-case scenario when a tragedy happens, but sometimes we need a little more faith that it all works out in the end. We took a swath across a pummeled field, and the yield monitor displayed 5 bushels per acre, but not far away we found a totally different result. When a field stretches one and a half miles long, it’s amazing how hit and miss the hailstones can be. To everyone’s surprise many fields that look not even worth harvesting have ended up yielding 30 to 60 bushels per acre. It’s a great example of how things are not always what they seem, and one would be wise to never assume the worst.

We may have been a little under the weather this week, but at least the weather has been conducive to harvesting. I’m not sure how healthy, wealthy, and wise we feel this week, but it’s never a bad time to be reminded how three simple words can shape the way we think about our circumstances. Speaking of circumstances, I keep find myself exhausted. Any suggestions on how I can make that “early to bed” thing happen more often? They say sleep is healthy for you, and I’d be willing to part with some of my wealth to make that happen. Sounds like a wise plan to me.

The hail was so sever some fields are barely recognizable.  This is all that’s left of what used to be a 4 foot tall corn field.

Thousands of acres of wheat were lost from the hail.  But looks can be deceiving, and some fields still managed to yield well over 50 bushels per acre despite the damage.

The grain movers of the crew park for the evening.  We easily move 15,000+ bushels per day with such good yields. 

Red combine, orange sunsets.  The sky seems to look on fire….and it’s beautiful.

The grain cart loads the trucks one final time for the evening.  The air hose is out, ready to blow out a combine radiator to keep in running cool in these triple-digit temps.  It’s a job best done at the end of the day that can followed up with a hot shower.

The machines welcome us in the morning as a new day begins.  This 800 acre fields stretches as far as the eye can see.

Unloading on the go keeps the trucks busy.  Another load is always waiting for them when they return from the elevator.

The combine’s “grain tank full” strobe lights signal to the grain cart it’s time to offload another 400 bushels.

The flat, enormous fields of South Dakota are beautiful.  The terrain here is so opposite of that in Oklahoma.

The clouds bifurcate the sky into fire and ice.  It’s an eye-popping explosion of colors.

Dark grey storm clouds create a contrast against the golden wheat that is stunning.  If only a picture could capture the sound of the rustling wheat…

Brian Jones can be reached at brian@allaboardharvest.com.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is brought to you by ITC Holdings, CASE IH, Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children, US Custom Harvesters Inc., Unverferth Mfg. Co. Inc., Lumivia CPL by Corteva Agriscience, Kramer Seed Farms, and High Plains Journal.