25 May Brian: Untold stories

Greenfield, Iowa — Read any good books lately?  Nothing is more entertaining than a good story, one that draws you in from the very beginning. You flip from one page to the next, and you just can’t put it down until you know how it ends.

If you are reading this, then you’re at the beginning of another great story that’s just started to be written…the untold stories of the 2024 great American wheat harvest. I’m Brian G. Jones of Greenfield, Iowa, and I am a fourth-generation farmer and second-generation wheat harvester. I was born and raised on a family farm near Des Moines in the rolling hills of southwest Iowa. Each week this summer I’ll be chronicling my crew’s harvesting adventures across the Midwest, a collection of short stories if you will.  

But no one reads a book starting in the middle, so let’s page back to the very beginning when it all started. It was 1983, and my father, Glen Jones, and grandpa, George Rahn, were looking for additional income to keep their operations financially viable during the terrible 1980s farm crisis. Inspired by George’s brother, who ran a harvesting crew, we put it all on the line and hauled our equipment to Oklahoma with no guaranteed acres. From knocking on farmers’ doors randomly in the countryside to referrals from locals, one job led to another. As they say, the rest is history.

Jones Harvesting is exclusively a family operation. My father and mother, Vernelle, farm in southwest Iowa with me and my sister, Brenda, and her husband, Cameron Hamer. Brenda and Cameron have four boys, and all nine of us spend the summer working together. My grandfather retired from the wheat run after 27 years. His son David Rahn, my uncle, now operates the Rahn family farm near Butterfield, Minnesota. David joins us with his equipment each summer, continuing the Jones-Rahn Harvesting legacy of 42 years.

The All Aboard Wheat Harvest crews are ready to put pen to paper, so grab your reading glasses and find a cozy spot to curl up as we share the best untold stories of this summer’s harvest. They might not make it onto the best sellers list, but don’t worry. Harvest stories are guaranteed to be filled with plenty of plot twists and turns to keep you guessing. It’s bound to be a real page turner!

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