25 Jul Laura: We pause your regularly scheduled programming…

Great Falls, Montana — There has been a pause in your regularly scheduled AAWH programing for … green wheat.

Actually, the Montana crop is on time. The southern run, due to early maturity and hot, dry conditions, sped harvest up. Jobs bled one into the next, and it went fast. Many harvest crews wrapped things up well ahead of the normal schedule and were allowed a slower move north to their final jobs of the wheat season.

Our farmers want to give their winter wheat a try this coming Wednesday, July 24. It will either go, or at minimum give us a baseline of where we’re at moisture-wise. While winter wheat has quickly become golden, there is still a lot of green in the spring wheat and canola around the area.

Smoke fills the air thanks to another season of wildfires in the west. The sun shines an orange-ish color through the haze, and I’ve yet to see a clear, blue sky. Visibility is greatly reduced, too, and tonight it’s probably only about 5 miles. There is a heat advisory the next three days with temps predicted in the high 90s and even more than 100. NOAA has issued a “Fire Watch” for Thursday. I pray that nothing comes of it. This is such big country that things could get ugly in a hurry.

The week before, our two 4-Hers were able to be home for the county fair. The kids had fun helping with fair clean up, serving at the concession stand and learning lessons and tips from judges. Being with 4-H and area friends before a long stint in the north country was good for their soul, too. We are thankful their Nana also got to watch them for one of the competitions.

Kitty, our favorite 15-year-old feline, checked off three more states on her bucket list. Despite being a good traveler, I normally provide her an all-expense-paid trip to her grandparents during this part of harvest to save her the stress of a 1,100+ mile trip. However, they were unable to accommodate her this season, so with the vet’s blessing and a few anxiety pills, which she refused to take, she had a great trip north.

The crew has had time to explore the city and recently took a partial team picture in front of some of the falls the city is named for. They had a little excitement on the last stretch of their trip north. A deer ran straight into the doors of “The Bus” and dented the passenger side. The same thing happened to Ryan’s truck during fall harvest last year, but on the driver’s side. While the cosmetic damage is annoying and a bit unsightly, it could have been so much worse, and we’re thankful no one was hurt in either instance.

Little Man celebrated another trip around the sun. Since we weren’t in the field, we were able to honor his wish of a family hike to one of his favorite places with lots of water crossings. We were thankful to get this time together. The crew will be back to cutting before we know it, which is a blessing, too.

Thank you to our 2024 All Aboard Wheat Harvest sponsors: High Plains Journal, Lumivia by Corteva Agriscience, Unverferth Manufacturing Co., Inc., Merit Auctions, Kramer Seed Farms, Shelbourne Reynolds, and U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. Laura can be reached at laura@allaboardharvest.com.