Northern Texas: Rain, unusually cool temperatures, overcast skies and puffy clouds have continued their unwelcome stay down south. Very little cutting is happening from custom harvesters and farmers alike. Normally, when I’m running up and down the highways, I see machines rolling, dust clouds rising on the horizon and grain trucks humming down the road. However, all is quiet. You would not even know its harvest time if not for passing the ripe wheat fields and seeing them for yourself. At church Sunday people spoke to us about concerns of wheat sprouting in the head if it continues much longer
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This is a very unusual year. Texas normally has really hot, dry weather. In years past, I can remember having one really awful storm when we first arrive down south, then things dry quickly and go. Last year we witnessed a really terrible hail storm right before we started cutting. One of our crewmembers saw a baseball-sized hail come right by him as they quit on one of our first evenings cutting.
This year is not like that. This year, it rains. And it rains. The temperature is probably about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than normal. After
Greenfield, Iowa—We may be counting down to the final day at home, but the stress level seems to be going up. Without question, the worst part of wheat harvest is the “getting ready to leave” part. You never know which one of the bazillion things you have to do should be completed first, and once you finally pick a task it only takes a few minutes to realize you should be doing something else.
It ends up a juggling act of sorts, often with too many balls in the air at once. School is winding down with last
Southwest Oklahoma – I had thoughts of going on harvest and cutting wheat right away when we arrived May 25. We waited around for several days before we got to start cutting. We definitely didn't come here to sit, we came to work but there's nothing I can do about the weather. I've been through it before. I know I just have to wait it out because that's the way harvest is sometimes. So far the yields have been decent. I’ve cut 45- to 65-bushel wheat. The test weights have been 58 to 63 pounds
It’s a good thing that farmers feed the world, and that we help those farmers gather their crops. Mostly because, the guys we feed like to eat. It feels like we take a hefty portion of what we gather to feed them. Last year I estimated that we served up about 2,200 pounds of beef to our crew during the harvest season. And that’s not including all the chicken and pork.
I think it’s safe to say Rhonada and I have a little experience in the kitchen. I’d like to share some of our go-to’s that heartily feed
Southwest Oklahoma–We arrived at our first harvest stop on May 25. The wheat was still a little green and the forecast not so hot. We took the time to attend the US Custom Harvesters, Inc. safety meeting in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was a very good meeting and there was quite the crowd that attended. The speakers were really great and hopefully everyone learned a lot. Safety should always be a priority. Did you know that truck drivers are required to wear a seat belt and texting while driving is not allowed at all? I see people texting and driving