02 Jun Christy: Safe travels for safety day

Wichita Falls, Texas—Pulling into the campground last weekend was a great feeling. Zoey finished up school; we closed up the house and made it to Texas in about 12 and a half hours. It was thankfully an uneventful trip.

Upon arriving, our crew has been busy getting all our equipment ready to go. The fields aren’t quite ready to go, so the guys have been able to clean the equipment up nicely from our travels south. They also lined everything up and got some great shots of all the trucks and combines in the field.

We have brought a few meals to the field, but the weather hasn’t exactly been cooperating. Rain showers here and there are keeping us from getting much done.

Last Monday we were able to complete a few loads, though the moisture was a little wet, and the rain decided to interrupt our progress. The few loads done were between 14 and 15.4% moisture. As far as I can tell, it just isn’t quite ready. I think we’ll see more rounds in the field as soon as the weather decides to be sunny and dry.

The slow start showed us we do have some kinks to work out. A little work with one of our grain carts is needed as the auger needs replacing. It’s good to get these kinks worked out before we go full force. Hiccups along the way are expected, but we like them to be ironed out before they cause us to slow up when everything is ready.

Our farmer needed a few loads brought in to elevators by Fort Worth, Texas. We are happy to get those 100-mile one way hauls done first before we get fully in the swing of things.

The rain delays haven’t been all bad. U. S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. put on an excellent Safety Day in Wichita Falls on Wednesday. We were happy to be one of 220 people to attend. Once again this year, we brought over a combine with header and semi with trailer for some of the safety and regulation demonstrations. Even though one of the very awesome Texas State Troopers did indeed point out a couple of missing reflectors. As always, a lot of important information was addressed that I believe is so very crucial, especially to first year crew members.

Zoey caught up with all her harvest buddies—friends she sees only a few times a year. Friends that get the whole harvest lifestyle. They band together and don’t skip a beat even after not seeing each other for many months. Cousin time also came together just in time for the pool to open at the campground we stay in.

The day after USCHI’s Safety Day, Mac Don Industries Ltd. held a harvest kickoff breakfast in Vernon, Texas. I didn’t attend, but Paul, Gary, Zoey, and some of the crew woke up early to make the drive to Vernon. When the guys returned, Zoey was happy to report she won a shirt and hat through one of their giveaways, and the guys said it was a very informative breakfast. They said they learned a lot about the heads they will be running here soon.

It’s a slow but good start to the wheat run. A lot of unknowns yet to see, though we are ready to face whatever this year brings us. Hope all harvesters are having a good start and can’t wait to bring you more from the field.

Christy Paplow can be reached at christy@allaboardharvest.com.

All Aboard Wheat Harvest is brought to you by Unverferth Manufacturing Co., Inc., High Plains Journal, New Holland, ITC Holdings Corp, U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc., and Kramer Seed Farms.