17 Aug Laura: Bright sunny days, northern lights nights

Great Falls, Montana — We’ve been fortunate to have amazing cutting weather the majority of the season, with the exception of the first part of Texas. That streak continued through last week, and we were able to complete our winter wheat obligations. The weather continues to be hot and dry with very low humidity. Yields have ranged from good to great, and we’ve been able to work at a nice, steady pace. One 545-acre field went 102 bushels per acre. While this is a number worth celebrating, the party feels a little blah with grain prices so low. I wish our farmers were earning a market price respectful of their efforts.

What hasn’t been blah is the night sky. When I left you last week I was debating about heading out to chase the northern lights. Well, curiosity got the best of me, and I chased them not one night but four, and I was awarded with some beautiful scenes. If you’re ever interested in knowing if the lights are visible in your area, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) has a great page that shows its nightly prediction, found here.

It has been so nice to have the crew all together in the same area these past few weeks. Today we said farewell as one of the crews officially moved to their northernmost stop of Montana, just shy of the Canadian border. They are on winter wheat. The first field they’ve cut just missed 90 bushels per acre! The rest of the crew will service up and be ready to tear into the barley soon.

We were blessed with a visit from one of Ryan’s sisters this week. The kids and I had the best time showing her some of their favorite places. We delivered meals to the field, spent lots of late nights watching the Olympics and took a super quick trip up to Glacier National Park. We even learned all about mammal scat through a local ranger program. Scat may seem like a taboo topic, but it really does tell you a lot of about animals, their health and habitat! The ranger did a great job.

This morning, team members Julius and Steve treated us to a great breakfast they made. Tonight, since we weren’t in the field, we decided to go fishing in the Missouri River. I caught my very first northern pike! A couple walked by just as the scene was unfolding and taught me how to handle them since we don’t have them back home. What nice people! Tomorrow evening the crew has a laser tag event planned. We are soaking up these moments together as the next wave of harvest will be coming any minute.

I am currently unable to access my AAWH email. If you have tried to reach me, I regret I haven’t responded. Thanks for your patience!

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.