Blog

With another harvest season behind us, it’s difficult to not look back and feel we spent our summer in the Land of Oz. Our adventure started in Oklahoma, a state with dirt as red as ruby slippers. We followed the yellow brick harvest road to Kansas where we were swept up in a tornado of activity. It carried us to South Dakota, the drought there as relentless as the Wicked Witch of the West. Then, as if carried home by flying monkeys, the shortest harvest we’ve ever experienced in 39 years is over.

The stories and photos we share are

Northern Montana: Recently when Ryan was visiting with the farmer, he received a warning, "When you're at the bins, keep an eye out for the bears. Sometimes they come up and feed on the grain, but they usually run off."

So far this season, we haven't seen any bears, but the crew has in past years, though never at the bins. There have been deer, antelope, coyote, upland birds, and the kids and I think we spotted swift foxes running across the road on our way two and from the field the other night. We were excited to

Northern Montana: Harvest continues in the northern part of the "Golden Triangle." The crew ran hard for a few days then caught a rain delay. They ran hard again and then caught another rain delay. The rains are welcome though. In an area that has suffered from drought this season hope is increasing for favorable winter wheat planting conditions. The rain has also given the crew a chance to make needed repairs.

The wheat is currently making around 45 bushels per acre. Through no fault of the farmer, the yields are lower than what is normally expected. The drought mentioned

Northeastern North Dakota–We got moved up to our last stop on wheat harvest and got to cut for several days before we got rained out. We cut spring wheat that was yielding around 50 to 70 bushels per acre. The test weights were over 63 pounds per bushel and the protein around 15%. We also cut field peas and finished cutting them right before it rained.

A lot of wheat got cut in this area last week. Several harvesters are not here yet. We got here right on time and went straight to the field and had pretty good going

Grafton, North Dakota–Whenever there's any lull in conversation at a family gathering, you can bet a harvest story is brewing out of one of us. They are our go-to. We've always said we should have written a book so I suppose these blogs are the next best thing.

The many different types of hired hands we had over the years, the different farmers we would combine for, roadside picnics, breakdowns, natural disasters–harvest has it all. I did one of these "harvester's hangout" segments a couple years ago and I think it's about time to revive

Glacier National Park, Montana—Harvest is work, but sometimes it puts you within striking distance of places you may not normally be able visit.

This has recently been the case.

Glacier National Park has long been on my bucket list. With harvest being earlier this year, coupled with the kids and I's extended stay in Montana, we were finally able to make the trip and check this wonder off the list. Some of the highlights have been ranger programs, hiking by mountain goats, playing near waterfalls, glaciers, photographing the approximately 1,000,000 (my made up number) cute chipmunks that