25 Oct Kimberly: Nice weather makes for a fast Fall Harvest

In a few days we can say we are completely done with our soybean harvest here in North Dakota. The nice weather here has made our fall harvest move right along. The past week we have had equipment move all around North Dakota to finish up bean harvest and get ready for corn.

We finished soybeans in Donnybrook on Oct. 9 and moved one of the machines home to start on beans for a few farmers around the Fessenden area and moved two to Jamestown to do beans there. Beans have been averaging anywhere from 33 bushels an acre to 50 bushels an acre around Fessenden and Jamestown. We have a few days left in Jamestown before those machines head home to get cleaned up and parked away for the winter.

Monitor reading of the beans around Fessenden, North Dakota.

Cole finally got moved out of Langdon and his combine joined the other one in the Fessenden area to cover more ground. The beans around Fessenden were running very well and averaged in the upper 50s. After they finished those jobs, they brought them back to finish up Roger’s beans before heading to do beans for a farmer near Sykeston, North Dakota.

Logan’s crew started on corn in Westhope a few days ago and are heading home today. They did roughly 600 acres of corn which is less than last year because the farmer didn’t get to plant all of his crop due to the late planting season. The corn average 135 bushels an acre. They took their two combines to Donnybrook to be used there once the corn is ready and brought three home a few days earlier so they could get blown off and cleaned up for the winter.

We don’t have a lot of corn acres to do this year but we have roughly 250 acres around home, 1,200 acres in Donnybrook and then our own corn. This fall harvest has come and gone in a blink of an eye.
Karlie and I have cleaned up two of the crew campers, got them winterized and put away. We have three more crew campers and my own camper that are still being used for the next few weeks, so we are hoping the weather stays nice when we need to get them cleaned up.
No matter how old or new your equipment is you will always have breakdowns. We have had a few wiring issues with two machines and a transmission go out in two of the combines this fall with one combine having the transmission go out two different times.
Last year we traded for five new combines and this year we are trading for three new ones, so once we get all the equipment settled in their homes, we will send those three to our dealership in Pratt, Kansas.

Fall sunsets are absolutely beautiful.

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

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