Christy Paplow

Christy Paplow

My name is Christy Paplow. I have been harvesting for 11 years now. I didn’t always call home a camper and life on the road, but I wouldn’t change it. After meeting my husband, Paul, in 2008, I discovered that being a harvester is the life for me. We’ve been navigating life together officially since 2011. The years in-between then and now were filled with an education in understanding what harvest means for those who make it their life. A life full of uncertainty, risk, fulfillment, and constantly checking the weather forecast.

My job on the crew consists of wearing many different hats. I work side by side with Paul’s Mom, Rhonada. She and I cook meals for the crew and keep up campers and laundry. We run for parts, and help move pickups from field to field when necessary. We also organize camp spots for our campers and crew trailers, and share all the bookwork. It’s a lot to keep together for our crew.

In 2014, Paul and I welcomed our daughter, Zoey, into the world. She has not known any other way of life, than life as a harvester. She has had a unique upbringing; she’s seen a lot of different places during her 6 years and met farmers and crew from all over.

These days harvest is a little different from those first few years on the road, but one thing remains the same. We combine a variety of crops for farmers and bring those commodities to local elevators or bin sites, ensuring a complete harvest for our customers.

Gary, Paul’s father, started Paplow Harvesting & Trucking in 1991 with the help of a couple local farmers. Today Gary and Paul run 9 late model Case IH 8250 combines, 5 Case IH tractors pulling grain carts, and 15 Peterbilt semis with Wilson hopper bottoms. We work hard to incorporate all of the new and state of the art technology in our operation. Our crew fluctuates between about 18 and 22 members.

After completing our summer wheat harvest run throughout the midwest, our fall harvest this year will consist of harvesting mainly soybeans and corn. We’ll start around home, working in Round Lake, Minnesota and Hartley, Iowa. We will also begin around Brookings, South Dakota and work our way through Roscoe, South Dakota, to Holdrege, Nebraska, and Paxton, Nebraska.

I’m excited to see what fall harvest has in store for us this year. We are hoping the weather this fall holds out to be good during the fall months. With a hot and dry summer, I hope we don’t have a wet fall. Crops are looking great around home, so I think we’ll see some good yields this year.

Harvest is a time of tight schedules and working overtime. I’ll be sharing with you all our good times, and those times that harvest gets a little tough. Through all that we experience, you’ll see what makes a harvest crew operate, and all the challenges we face.