Sublette, Kansas — No two years are ever the same, but the stark contrast between harvest this year and last year borders on ironic. We blitzed Oklahoma, cutting straight through without a break and working more consecutive days in the first week than we did at any point during all of 2023. Any rain showers we did receive only resulted in a delay of hours, not days. Last year's downpours have been replaced by wind-driven dust.

Our move to Kansas was hampered by the hot, windy weather and road construction. Sustained winds of over 30 mph and

Thomas, Oklahoma — I don't know about you, but I'm always up for a little adventure. For some, that means jumping out of a plane, while others get their adrenaline rush dangling off the side of a mountain cliff. Those are probably a little too extreme for me, but the past week has been a non-stop adventure. I'm pretty sure wheat harvesting doesn't qualify as an extreme sport, and yet the crew has felt like we've been pushed to the extremes, living life on the edge.

Getting a deer antler in a combine

Thomas, Oklahoma — With school out across the country, students are enjoying time away from the classroom and taking a break from learning. It's summertime, filled with swimming, slushies and sleeping in. But out here on the harvest trail, life has enrolled us in summer school, and there have been plenty of teachable moments. This week has tested our resolve a few times, so let's review what we've learned and hand out some grades.

The unsettled weather earlier in the week earned a D, bringing high humidity and storms to much of Oklahoma. The wheat is

Thomas, OK - The crew has spent the last week packing and preparing for harvest, but this year it's been hard to focus. Three days after the EF4 tornado devastated our hometown of Greenfield, Iowa another round of severe weather produced a derecho that pummeled the area. Downed trees and power lines meant we had to divert some packing time to cleaning up around the farm. Time that I should have spent washing equipment was eaten up by phone calls settling the insurance claim on Vernelle's totaled car. Glen and Cameron spent time helping their churches coordinate relief

Greenfield, Iowa — Anyone who works on a farm knows firsthand there is never a dull moment. No matter the season, it's always a whirlwind of activity on a farm. Our fall harvest of corn and soybeans saw yields that defied the severity of the drought conditions here in Iowa nearly all year. We had great harvest weather and amazingly even set some yield records on our farm. Winter was not as forgiving, and in January we endured one of the worst blizzards in recent memory. Ridiculous winds created drifting I've never experienced, and prolonged windchills of

Greenfield, Iowa — Read any good books lately?  Nothing is more entertaining than a good story, one that draws you in from the very beginning. You flip from one page to the next, and you just can’t put it down until you know how it ends.

If you are reading this, then you’re at the beginning of another great story that’s just started to be written…the untold stories of the 2024 great American wheat harvest. I’m Brian G. Jones of Greenfield, Iowa, and I am a fourth-generation farmer and second-generation wheat harvester. I was born and

The past week has been a blur, filled with finishing our last field in South Dakota, cleaning and loading machines, and then making that arduous drive with all the equipment back to Minnesota and Iowa. True to the theme of the 2023 harvest, we had difficulties right to the final fields.

Everyone can use a little advice from time to time, and no one is better at dispensing timely wisdom than a mother. "Everything looks better after a good night's sleep" is probably something your mom once told you, or perhaps "this too shall pass" was said to comfort you after a bad day.

After 16 days of sitting still, the crew has finally started harvesting spring wheat here in central South Dakota. I looks like it's been worth the wait.

It's unusual that a full week goes by without any harvesting to report, but this year has proven to be anything but usual. With winter wheat finished, we now are waiting on this unusual spring wheat situation to play out.