All Aboard Harvest | High Plains Journal
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High Plains Journal

03 Aug

Posted at 14:00h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, High Plains Journal, John Deere, podcast, Sponsors, stories, wheat by
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[caption id="attachment_15153" align="aligncenter" width="3264"] Photo by Bill Spiegel[/caption]Mike Barnett has well over two decades of experience on the wheat harvest trail as a leader with the John Deere Harvester Works Customer Support Team. For this special edition of the All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ podcast, Mike is on the line with AAWH’s Sarah Moyer discuss the evolution of this support team and how he started with the program. Tune in to step out on the road with Mike.

[audio mp3="http://hpj.hubris.net/allaboardwheatharvest/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2017/08/AAWH-Podcast-05.mp3"][/audio]

02 Aug

Posted at 17:20h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, High Plains Journal, Z Crew by
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Chester, Montana -  It was meant to be. That’s the only reason I can say all of this happened the way it did.

So often, we say the words…“keep the faith,” “God’s will,” “just let God have it,” etc. But how often do we recognize His hands at work? Pieces of the larger picture were falling into place well before we even realized what was happening.

We finished cutting in Chadron on Sunday, July 16. We spent the next couple of days cleaning equipment and parking it where it will stay until the move is made to Colorado for the millet harvest in September.

The plan was to go home from Chadron. Then, Jim said we would take the month of August and maybe do some things we can’t normally do – like go to the mountains for a few days or to Montana and see friends we haven’t seen for several years. It was difficult for me to think about being done with the wheat harvest, but it appeared there were no more acres for The Beast to consume. So, the plan Jim came up with sounded good to me.

02 Aug

Posted at 07:17h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, Crop Updates, harvest, High Plains Journal, HPH, Janel, John Deere, MacDon, Photos, wheat by
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Pierre, South Dakota – We are slowly making progress. We have been here a couple of weeks now and for the most part have spent most of our time waiting on spring wheat to ripen. We have cut a few fields (some have been hailed on), and overall the wheat is yielding around 30 bushels per acre. The protein has been 17-20 percent, which is excellent. However, the wheat is light, weighing about 55 pounds or so. The wheat is standing good, and the conditions have been fair. What we really need are some good drying days, including lots of heat and wind. That would help our wheat harvesting progress a lot.

01 Aug

Posted at 16:20h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, Crop Updates, harvest, High Plains Journal, John Deere, New Holland, Photos, Sponsors, Stephanie, stories, Syngenta, wheat by
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Scranton, North Dakota - On one corner, the wheat is days away from being ready to cut. Across the road, the field is grass green and won't be ready for weeks. A hop and a skip down the road, wheat is being swathed and baled. When the insurance company is paying the farmer to bale rather than harvest, how could you say no? It's tough for me as a harvester to type that, but I also understand profit margins. Don't be surprised if harvest crews add some instruments and a hot dog stand to their crew. Just imagine, the crew/band playing some country music and selling hot dogs in the wheat field. Combines park strategically around the bandstand, passing the time before the wheat ripens. Sounds pretty awesome, actually.

29 Jul

Posted at 13:30h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, harvest, High Plains Harvesting, High Plains Journal, HPH, John Deere, Laura, stories, wheat by
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Northeast Colorado - The other night Pieter had machinery issues so stopped in the field, got out of the cab, and hopped off the ladder. Immediately he knew something was wrong. Ryan said he was yelling over the noise of the combine about there being a snake. Ryan thought he was just imagining things as it would be hard to hear a rattle over the roar of the motor. Pieter kept yelling and pointing. When Ryan shined his light in the direction Pieter was pointing, sure enough, there was a rattle snake coiled up and ready to strike.

29 Jul

Posted at 09:27h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, Crop Updates, harvest, High Plains Journal, HPH, Janel, John Deere, MacDon, Photos, wheat by
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Fort Benton, Montana - Last year 25 percent of our crew went to Montana.  This year 75 percent of our crew went to Montana to harvest winter wheat, spring wheat, chick peas and lentils. They have been there for about ten days and have been harvesting full blast nearly every day.

The winter wheat has been averaging over 60 bushels an acre, 62 pounds and 13-14 percent protein.  Sounds good to me!  It took the crew three days to get all of the equipment from Western Nebraska up to Montana, so I hope they have the best of luck there and continue getting in some big days of harvesting!

28 Jul

Posted at 14:51h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, harvest, High Plains Journal, John Deere, New Holland, Photos, Sponsors, Stephanie, stories, wheat by
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Alliance, Nebraska - Okay, tell me honestly; if I were to have a fleet of pink cabovers with white hopper bottoms that coincidentally have pink polka dots, how do you think that would go over? It was a thought-out-loud I had the other day and every member of the crew has a different opinion. I know a certain little harvest girl (Miss Carley Russell) who would be the first in line to drive one.

I'm writing this from a hotel in Alliance, Neb. With my family, we cut in Hemingford for many, many years so this area is all too familiar to me. This morning/afternoon in Pine Bluffs, we took duels off the combine, loaded up the combine, loaded up the grain cart, and fixed a valve on the grain cart trailer. It was HOT. Everything we touched was all but smoking from the heat and the cloud cover that would sporadically bring us shade brought out an audible sigh of relief from all of us.

26 Jul

Posted at 10:30h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, Crop Updates, harvest, High Plains Journal, John Deere, New Holland, Photos, Sponsors, Stephanie, stories, Syngenta, wheat by
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Pine Bluffs, Wyoming - Anderson Harvesting is at its first standstill of the harvest 2017 season. Farmer Lance, with his 25 bushel average/62 pound test weight crop, is all cut up and now the real question arises; where do we go from here? John's ear and his phone have been inseparable for the past few days and the decision is still up in the air. But, as Papa T said, "you go where the wheat is ripe." Western ND is looking like the best bet!

So, since I'm running low on harvest action, I'm going to try something a little different. I've decided to call this little segment the "harvester's hangout".  What this will be is me telling three harvester tales of yesteryear. Imagine a room full of harvesters with their scuffed up boots and ball caps in a cafe, exchanging laughs and stories with one another for hours and hours; that's the feel I'm going for. So, grab a nice cup of coffee and have a comfortable seat because that's how the best tales are received.

24 Jul

Posted at 14:30h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, Crop Updates, harvest, High Plains Harvesting, High Plains Journal, HPH, John Deere, Laura, Photos, stories, wheat by
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Hardin, Montana - For those of you who have been waiting for the Montana pictures, well, you're in luck. They're starting to trickle in. Montana usually seems to be a highlight for the crew and readers probably because it so unique environmentally. They don't call it "Big Sky Country" for nothing! The report from Mark and the crew up in Montana is that they're cutting in absolutely beautiful country. They've seen lots of deer and other various forms of wildlife. The harvest has been respectable too. At the first farm, they've seen yields mainly in the 40-60 range with spikes all the way up to 100 bushels per acre. Below are some photos they've sent in.

21 Jul

Posted at 14:45h in 2017, aawh, All Aboard, High Plains Journal, New Holland, wheat, Z Crew by
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Chadron, Nebraska - The last time we were in Chadron for the wheat harvest was 20 years ago. Our kiddos were much younger. I was pregnant with Callie, and the job I had at that time had nothing to do with spending time in the field (except to haul meals) or the combine. My job was so much different back then. I was in charge of kids, activities, food, laundry and being the "go-fer."  Little did I know that just four short years later, plans would change. Man... what I wouldn't give to be able to step back in time and relive one of those days. Those days seemed they would never end because of the needs of the kids, the husband and the hired man. When I see familiar sights in this town, I think back to those days. One of my favorite memories is attending the circus held under the big tent on the east side of town. We went with those same harvest friends (Krumbach Harvesting), whom shared their acres with us this year. They also have four children very close to the same age as our girls. I remember how excited they all were when the elephants made their grand entrance, and I'm certain there was cotton candy involved.