Western Kansas—The days have been hot and we’ve been busy harvesting wheat out here in good ole western Kansas! I enjoy it out here. Typically, it’s hot and dry but we’ve had a couple of pop-up thunderstorms. The wheat has been yielding anywhere from 30 to 70 bushels per acre but the test weights have remained under 60 pounds per bushel. Certain varieties didn’t yield well this year that yielded really well last year. Too much wind shelled out one variety which was disappointing.
One reason I love harvesting here is because when I arrive I put on my
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Did you all have a safe and healthy Fourth of July? I hope so! Lady A and Little Man just love the holiday and are a little let down that it has already come and gone. It is rare that we weren’t in the field cutting. The crew in western Kansas got rained out with approximately 60 acres to go so they had the evening off and shot some firecrackers at our headquarters. The children had a fun few days launching fireworks with friends in the neighborhood.
I’m a little behind on the news but that is by purpose to
Western Kansas—The month of June is over and we’re on to July already and I've got my blue header on again. I have dreamed of having 100-bushel wheat to harvest again this year but when I got out west on June 29 I quickly noticed the wheat yields falling way short of last year. The wheat is averaging 30 to 70 bushels per acre and the test weights under 60 pounds per bushel. A freeze in April damaged the wheat crop and no rain has caused the lower results.
I do love it out west and enjoy being
Minneola, Kansas—Sometimes wheat harvesting can seem like a traffic jam ... just when you think you get to start you find yourself sitting still due to weather, spinning your wheels. This year will not be described as stop and go, but instead more like a race. Since we arrived in Oklahoma, it's been non-stop; and once we reached Kansas, we didn't let our foot off the gas. It's been "pedal to the metal" for over a week now, and there are no signs of it letting up till we see the checkered flag fall as we cross
Central Kansas: While we were in south central Kansas, we had the opportunity to host another group from Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children. This time, it was the young men who came to see the team. They made the trip to Kansas all the way from their Edmond, Oklahoma, campus.
One of the neat things about this group was that some of them had an idea of what they’d experience on their outing. They had visited Jim and Tracy Zeorian last summer so already had the harvest bug. This opened up a level comfort and questions which benefitted all, even
Cheyenne, Oklahoma—It can be hard to avoid the comparison game as the wheat harvest run progresses. We witness and read about other crews moving on north into Kansas as we look at another week or so of cutting in western Oklahoma. It always seems to work out in the end, but there is certainly a feeling of being left behind!
Strong City, Oklahoma—The combine works away in the background.
We have been working nonstop as we have been blessed with ideal wheat-cutting weather: dry, hot and windy! We find ourselves so torn on the dry part though—this land is