19 Dec Janel: Going to the field

Holdrege, Nebraska — It’s now Dec. 8, and I’m still going to the field. I’ll be busy tomorrow picking a quarter of irrigated corn. It is, hopefully, the last field for 2024. Overall, it was a beautiful fall harvest. The weather was so good all fall.

Around home, the soybeans yielded around 60 to 80 bushels per acre. The lower yields were due to summer hail. The corn had extreme yield ranges, too, anywhere from 150 to 250-plus.

It was 65 degrees this weekend and so nice. Our forecast this week is cooler with highs in the 30s and 40s and in the teens and 20s at night. There’s no snow in the forecast yet, but it’s Nebraska, so we know it’ll show up one of these days.

Down south there’s been a terrible drought going on, and a lot of wheat acres were planted in the dust. Then, thankfully, Mother Nature was so kind as to deliver rain. Hopefully, it’s got a decent start, and there will be wheat to cut next May.

I’m currently hiring for the 2025 harvest. I’ve already gotten several interviews done. If interested in harvest employment, please apply online at www.schemperharvesting.com. I like to hire motivated individuals with ag experience and a CDL (commercial driver’s license) preferably. A full season of harvest also looks amazing on a resume. There’s a lot to learn and gain from harvest. The experience is often admired by those who never got to go even one season!

I hope next year there will be road construction done on a couple of highways that I traveled on this year. Highway 132 from Nash to Manchester, Oklahoma, is narrow and dangerous. There’s also a terrible stretch of road on Highway 183 from Elm Creek to Ansley, Nebraska, that’s been bad for many years. It’s awfully torn up and dangerous to travel on. I really hope it gets fixed soon for safety reasons. It’s narrow and rough.

I’ll stay busy during the off-season, possibly driving a truck. I also do CDL testing. I enjoy going to local high school basketball games. I was just asked how long I’ll be home for, and I said 23 weeks. Wheat harvest starts around May 20, and it always sneaks up on us quickly in the spring.

Thank you to those who support Schemper Harvesting. We appreciate our customers who hire us back year after year. I love harvesting crops and sending truck loads to the elevator. Also, thank you to the High Plains Journal, All Aboard Harvest, the sponsors and viewers. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Janel Schemper can be reached at janel@allaboardharvest.com.

Thank you to our 2024 All Aboard Wheat Harvest sponsors: High Plains Journal, Pivot Bio, Unverferth Manufacturing Co. and U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc.