Megan

30 May Megan: Carmen, Okla.

Roland Harvesting has kept quite busy the past few days near Carmen, Okla. To both our relief and our farmers, the wheat in the area is significantly better than it was last year during the drought. Most of the wheat is yielding around 40 bushels...

22 May Megan: Catch Up Time Near Altus, Oklahoma

After a long day of traveling and cutting wheat on Thursday, May 10 we were disappointed to wake up Friday and hear the Gould area received about an inch of rain. Over the weekend a couple more rain showers came through the area. We continued to “babysit” our field and sample it periodically in hopes that it would be dry enough to start cutting again but the weather was not in our favor. The sky remained filled with gloomy clouds and the humidity in the air spiked. Due to the cool, damp weather the wheat would not dry down and the moisture remained between 19 percent and 16 percent all weekend. The lowest the moisture dropped down to was 15.7 percent on Sunday.

During these few days where we were unable to cut we kept very busy with random projects. We performed maintenance on the combines, replaced lights on the tractor and grain cart, looked at other fields in the area, and visited with many farmers. After about Day three of waiting around all of our “rain day” jobs were completed and we were anxious to get back in the field. On Sunday, we were all feeling a bit down since we had not been able to cut for the last few days and also that it was Mother’s Day. We’re used to celebrating Father’s Day on harvest, but we’re always with Dad so it’s fitting. However, neither Brandon nor I have ever spent a Mother’s Day away from Mom.

We made sure to call her and she seemed a bit blue as well. She could tell we were upset that we couldn’t get into the field due to bad weather. Mom explained how harvest is not always ideal and although everything is very early this year, she emphasized how we just have to count our blessings and be thankful there was even a crop down south to cut. She always has a way of putting things in perspective for us and always keeps the attitude about how the “sun will come out tomorrow.” And that it did.

Finally on Monday the sun came out, the warm wind began to blow, and the temperature rose into the 90’s. We all knew this meant the wheat would dry down in no time and then harvest would kick into full gear. And boy, were we right. All last week we worked long, hard days and cut out many acres in the Gould and Duke, Oklahoma area. For the most part we had a smooth week with minimal complications. James’s header had a minor breakdown but we were able to get it up and running until the parts for it can be shipped here.