01 Sep Brian: Waking up in Wonderland

Greenfield, Iowa—I woke up at 10 a.m. in my own bed this morning, one large enough to lay sideways on with a stack of pillows. That’s weird. The house is silent, and I’m all alone for the first time in months. Also weird. I groggily stumble out of bed to the shower, one that is literally five times the size I’m accustomed to and has hot water that lasts 5 times as long, which is awesome but still pretty weird. I brew some coffee and look out the window, the cows grazing in the cool of the morning. It’s too late for breakfast, I guess. I haven’t decided what was for lunch, let alone cooked it myself, in nearly three months. It’s always so weird to have your daily routine completely altered, almost as if you are Alice waking up in Wonderland.

I’ll admit, so far there have been no mad men in top hats serving tea. No evil queen has shouted, “Off with their head!” nor have I chased any white rabbits down a hole. But waking up at home still seems like a fairytale, as if it is impossible that harvest could already be over. But time flies when you are having fun, and that last week of spring wheat harvest certainly flew by.

While winter wheat here seemed to take forever, the spring wheat was just the opposite. It ripened faster than normal, and the cutting conditions were perfect. Much of our time was spent harvesting part of 2,100-plus acres all clustered together with an “annoying” gravel road that spoiled what could have been 2.5-mile long passes, which never ceases to amazing me since back home we rarely find a field over 80 acres in size. The combines never sat still, the grain cart was always on the move and the trucks never waited for a load. Just as quickly as the Cheshire Cat disappeared from Alice, the last pass for the season was consumed by the combine. I don’t know where the time went, but we’ve arrived at the end of our harvest trail.

While a day or two off did sound nice, the crew opted to keep on working to get equipment moved home right away. That meant four days of back-to-back-to-back driving for some of us, resulting in 12 different stints behind the wheel to get everything situated permanently. We all look forward to going home but getting there is an exhausting 2,800 mile traveling marathon the crew is happy to have behind them.

Returning home is bittersweet. There is no fanfare. No balloons or confetti. No banners welcoming us back. After all these years you might expect returning home to not seem so surreal, but it always is. Our “life on the road” is suddenly exchanged for our “life on the farm.” I suppose it’s unfair to say one of them is better than the other, but our longing to somehow simultaneously experience the best parts of both worlds never goes away.

When we are at home we dream about life on the road, just like you dream about living out these adventurous travels yourself. Each week we share a new story with you, in hopes it provides you your own Alice in Wonderland experience. It’s a chance to escape your daily responsibilities for just a moment, to place yourself in a wonderland of wheat. A place where the sky is alive in pastel colors as the glowing sun slips below the horizon and meets the golden wheat that rustles in the breeze. How fortunate my family has lived this fairytale each summer for 40 years. That’s 40 years of faith in God, life-long friendships, irreplaceable family time and harvesting thousands of fields. We are grateful for the opportunity to share these memorable moments with you, and in some way we all share a unique love for this land. The beauty of wheat harvest really is a dream come true, a dream I never want to wake up from.

We enjoy one final sunset for the season, the sky painted in pastel.  Not gonna lie….these views will be missed.

Titus takes his first big step as an equipment operator this year, driving the grain cart by himself so Brenda can help with meal prep and laundry back at the trailers.  Working full days just like the rest of us, he really was an invaluable part of the crew and did an amazing job!  Everyone is very proud of him, unloading on the go like a seasoned pro.

The sunflowers of South Dakota pose for a sunset photo.  I’m still partial to the wheat sunsets, but it’s hard to deny the sunflowers are beautiful in full bloom.

Both trucks in the field at the same time….a rare sight with the big yields this year.

With so many acres to cover, sometimes every meal is eating “on the go” in the machine.  Thankfully auto steer means the steering wheel makes a great makeshift dinning table.

Titus catches another grain tank full on the go.  It’s amazing how many hours we spend unloading grain over an entire summer.

The crew celebrates 40 years wearing our 40th anniversary T-shirts for a group photo.

Unloading on the go keeps both the grain cart and the trucks very busy.  Sometimes the trucks can be 2 miles away from the combines because of the large fields and limited entrances into the field for semis.

The grain cart tractor is ready to head back to Iowa, and the duals come off the combine one final time.

David and Titus work in the cool of the evening cleaning the machinery one final time as we prepare to head home.

Ezra has the honor of harvesting the last pass of wheat, finished both this field and the 2022 season.  His combine operator apprenticeship continues, and we are proud of his eagerness to learn and his desire to run his own combine some day.

The cows are excited to see as we move through a pasture to access a field off the beaten path.

Titus, the newest driver in the family, takes the Hamers on the last leg of their journey home from Minnesota to Iowa.

Back where it all began.  Brian, Glen and Vernelle turn into the driveway of home sweet home with the last load of equipment.

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.