Enjoy harvest all year long with the 2013 All Aboard Wheat Harvest calendar. This calendar features the best images of the 2012 harvest captured by our correspondents. Visit the High Plains Journal web shop to purchase yours today.
All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and Syngenta. For more information contact crew@allaboardharvest.com.
There can’t be a better ending to a wonderful year for this years harvest. Misener Family Harvesters are soon to be heading home, wrapping up another year. I had to share how our ending unfolded because it’s just too good not to share! Enjoy the video, and God bless you and yours!
All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and Syngenta
Emma Misener can be reached at emma@allaboardharvest.com
The 2012 wheat harvest has been an exciting and noteworthy harvest. Combines were rolling in the fields as early as May 8, and activity that early was unprecedented.
All of us at High Plains Journal and Syngenta would like to thank everyone who made the 2012 All Aboard Wheat Harvest possible. We would like to thank our hard-working correspondents for their efforts to give us the latest reports direct from the field. We had a talented group of women out in the field telling the story of wheat harvest.
Jada, Emma, Taylor, Callie, Megan and Stephanie did an outstanding job keeping us up to date on the progress of harvest, and kept us informed and entertained throughout the summer.
Thank you to all of our loyal followers, contributing sponsors, and all who make up the All Aboard Wheat Harvest community. Your support is appreciated.
Our correspondents are now heading home, or starting school, and some are beginning the fall harvest.
Thanks again for a great wheat harvest, and we’ll see you next year.
For more information contact crew@allaboardharvest.com.
Nathan H. has won this harvest rig courtesy of Rocking H Farm Toys.
You can check out the Rocking H website here.
Thank you for your participation.
For more information contact crew@allaboardharvest.com.
You could win a Harvest Prize Pack! Simply comment on the question below to be entered to win. The winning entry will be randomly selected from the comments section of this blog. You must comment to win.
If you could spend one day with a harvest crew, what job would you request?
U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. is an association of professional custom harvesters serving the needs of the American farmer. The organization was established and chartered in 1983 in the state of Texas and serves as a link between the harvesters and the many groups of people they work with, such as farmers, businesses, State and federal government. We are a dues-funded membership organization with the Harvest News magazine as our primary means of communicating with members.
All Aboard would like to say thank you to U.S. Custom Harvesters Inc. for supporting the 2012 wheat harvest. For more information contact crew@allaboardharvest.com.
Even though I already bid my farewell to all of you in my previous post I realized there is something I’d still like to share. To be honest, my mind is always full of so many different ideas and thoughts that my “oops, I forgot to share this” attitude to go on forever. Regardless, this post is about something very special to me, and maybe even to you too.
Although wheat harvest is pretty well wrapped up for most of us we don’t merely forget about it as the year goes on. Whether you’re a farmer or a harvester I believe that wheat is so much more than just a crop to sow and reap. Wheat is a symbol of possibility, dedication, hardship, struggle, faith, family, love, endowment, and livelihood. How can all of these incredible characteristics of wheat be captured? Perhaps photographs? Yes, through pictures you can enjoy the sight of the golden wheat in its natural environment as it sways and dances in the wind awaiting to be harvested by the massive combines. However, there is another way to physically attain these qualities of wheat. You may ask, “How is this possible?” The answer is simple: Wheat weaving.
When my sister, Ashley, and future brother-in-law, Kurt, were wedding planning last year the one thing they knew they had to incorporate into their wedding was wheat. Both being raised with farming backgrounds, wheat was very important to them as it symbolized their past, present, and future. One of Kurt’s family friends, Janet Christenot, from his hometown, Chester, Montana, and her wheat weaving talent were the perfect answer as to how this significant grain could be included in their wedding.
In August of 1978, Janet attended a brief wheat weaving class at the Liberty Village Art Gallery in Chester, Montana and absolutely fell in love with the unique artwork. Living in the middle of wheat country she had an endless supply of materials and started exploring the possibilities. Janet slowly began to make her own work as her creativity and inspiration grew. Working with this art form for over thirty years she mostly does traditional work and continues to make many of her own creations. Janet crafts a variety of wheat weaving designs including sculptures, nature forms, framed art and even jewelry.
Janet is very passionate about wheat weaving and it is evident in her remarkable work. Living in wheat country for many years, wheat remains very special to her and through her artwork she is able to capture all of its intrinsic characteristics. Her work holds the most incredible detail that continues to amaze me.
In fact, as Janet explained to me, wheat weaving is actually an ancient art form that dates back to over 8,000 years ago to the Egyptians. It was the belief of many ancient cultures that a spirit lived in the grain and that weaving was a way to trap the spirit of the field to ensure a bountiful season for the upcoming year. I find this historical account of wheat to be fascinating. Furthermore, I never realized this type of wheat preservation has been around for thousands of years.
To further explore the unique artwork of wheat weaving check out Janet’s website at http://www.creativewheat.com/. For my family, wheat weaving is a unique way to recall everything that wheat means to us – from special harvest memories to growing our own crops to our livelihood. So whether you simply find wheat to be a beautiful art form or you have a deeper tie to its significance, wheat weaving is an extraordinary way to capture the majestic traits of wheat.
Photo by Janet Christenot
This is the cake topper that Janet created for Ashley and Kurt’s wedding. Yes, it is all made out of wheat! How incredibly beautiful is that?! Check out more of her artwork at her website!
Can you believe that Janet is able to make such breathtaking creations from wheat? I guess wheat is just an art form all the way around!
All Aboard Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and Syngenta. Megan can be reached at megan@allaboardharvest.com.
Summer and harvest are coming to an end. I’m going to miss the summer heat, and the cool thunderstorms, the hum of machines, and the chaff in the air. Fall harvest will be starting soon and I’m ready for what new adventure that it brings.
As All Aboard Wheat Harvest comes to an end my story sharing will be put on hold until next time. I love the interaction with all the readers, and I will miss it. Each one of our followers make it fun to tell my families stories. I really do have a sense of joy when I share my life with everyone. I love what I do, and I hope I’ve been able to share that with all of you. From the bottom of my heart I thank you.
I’m happy to call myself a custom harvester, and I’m proud to be a part of the agriculture industry.
Thank you High Plains Journal, Syngenta, and all of our sponsors who make it possible to share our stories every week.
Until next year, God bless you all and be safe!
All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and Syngenta
Emma Misener can be reached at emma@allaboardharvest.com
Osowski Ag Service has officially completed the 2012 wheat harvest. We had a 10 acre piece left this morning and finished with ease in a short time, leaving us time to road equipment back to our farm, clean up all the machines and put them in their homes (ever so temporarily) before bean harvest starts in the next couple weeks. I know all of us correspondents have been raving about how early harvest is but it is still so hard to get over. Normally we would be starting bean harvest in late September and we will be long gone and done with it by that time this year. Sheer craziness.
One of our farmers this past week asked me “So are you ’bout tired of harvest and ready to wrap it up?” My answer? I live for this stuff. Harvest is that time of year that only happens once a year but everything we do the other months all revolves back to it. We share stories of our adventures year round to anyone who will listen. I thank everyone so very much for letting me tell our stories this summer. I absolutely loved any comments and emails I received in response to posts and hearing how they would spark memories in others from their harvest days. I have said it before but you really don’t know what harvest is like until you’ve been on it yourself and once you do, good luck not wanting to re-live it over and over again. This blog certainly comes close to living it. I would also like to thank our sponsors, especially High Plains Journal and Syngenta, for being given the opportunity to share our experiences.
I will be embarking on my third year of college at North Dakota State University next week, majoring in Agricultural Economics and a minor in Agricultural Communications. Since I’m at an ag school, our campus normally clears out on weekends in the fall because all us farm kids want “in” on harvest. I find myself making the 120 mile trip back home each weekend during bean, potato and sugar beet harvest to participate as much as I can. I have been given the green light to share an experience or two from these harvests with you on here so stay tuned for that!
Again, thanks to everyone who read and contributed to All Aboard! Till we take the combine another round, best wishes to all!
Harvest Tip: If you ever get the chance to work a summer for a harvest crew, don’t hesitate. It’s a contagious and addicting lifestyle.
Our AAWH crew photo, revisited.
Last field of 2012.
We have loved being apart of All Aboard! Thanks everyone!
All Aboard Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and Syngenta. You can contact Stephanie at stephanie@allaboardharvest.com.
These next couple of weeks the Misener crew will be working on the Price Farm near Dell Rapids, South Dakota. We’ll be here until fall harvest begins—and it’s right around the corner.
Folks up here are also suffering from drought, but no matter what the crop is it’s early this year. I hope we have a good crop this fall, but all we can do is hope for the best. We are finding ourselves in the same predicament that many harvesters find themselves in this time of year—needing work. The drought may make work hard to come by as it has threatened fall harvest. We’ll just have to put our faith in God.
August has left the crew because school starts up for him soon. He’s really become part of our family and we hope to have him back soon. Any time he wants to come back he is more than welcome!
Beingon the Price farm is like a mini vacation. They are not only our fall customers, but our friends. I just love being here and waking up in the morning to the sweet sounds of a farm. I absolutely love it.
We rounded up the sheep. Of course they all ran for cover, and guess who was nominated to go in after them? That’s right. Me. (Although, I found it kind of fun!)
Dan and farmer Dave carried gate panels to get a wider sweep on herding the sheep.
I’m not even sure why I was giving mom this look, but it’s pretty funny.
Mom had one of the most important jobs. She filled the syringes with correct amount of dosage for each sheep.
Catching sheep is not something I do every day, so I thought this was fun. Farmer Dave, though was laughing at my excitement. He was happy for the extra help and said it cut his time in half.
This picture just makes me laugh. Dan’s expression, Dave laughing, and me doing something that looks embarrassing. I’m not sure what I was thinking, but evidently something didn’t smell too sweet.
Once the sheep were caught it was time to fix and build fence.
Dan and Mom loaded up the fence posts onto the back of the 4-wheeler. My job was the insulators. I didn’t get a photo of the fence at the end, but just picture a perfectly straight fence.
Dan and Andy (farmer Dave’s son), and I went to check soybeans and corn. They had sprayed the previous week and they wanted to check to make sure the spider mites were gone. If you don’t get these spider mites under control when you first see them it could mean a total loss of your crop. Luckily, there were no mites found during our inspection.
There were thousands of these tiny creatures just hanging out. I think he’s gorgeous.
Andy holds up the difference in the height of the soybeans from the edge of the field, to where the draws or waterways are in the fields. You can definitely tell which plant is getting more water.
We then headed over and checked out the corn.
Andy opens up an ear of corn to see what it looks like. Luckily the Price farm looks to have a promising crop.
My family and I may not be doing the typical jobs expected during this time of year we’re making do with what we have. Surround yourself with those you love and enjoy the special gift of life God has given us. Don’t waste it.
Be safe and God bless!
All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and Syngenta
Emma Misener can be reached at emma@allaboardharvest.com
Change is in the air. With harvest running three weeks early all summer long it feels like fall is already on the brink. The nights are starting to get cooler and the days are slowly getting shorter. The vibrant colors of the spring flowers are gone and the bright green pasture grass is wilted up after the extreme summer heat. Stubble takes the place of the fields that were once filled with golden waves of wheat. The rush of “back to school” is evident throughout any town you visit. The world we know is preparing to slow down for the dormancy of winter. With these seasonal changes I know what else is coming…real-life changes.
The entire Roland Harvesting crew is currently spread out across Wyoming harvesting malt barley. We are blessed with a gorgeous scenery to enjoy while we work here! Brandon, James, Jose and I will continue to help out Mom and Dad for the next week or so until we head back to college at the University of Wyoming in Laramie. My parents will finish up malt barley harvest then head back home to Nebraska to plant wheat in early September. After planting is complete they will begin harvesting fall crops in the area including millet, edible beans, sunflowers, and corn. Unfortunately, we (kids) miss out on most of the fall harvest, even though we always try to sneak away from school for a couple of weekends to help out.
For me, the end of summer always brings up bittersweet feelings. It is a time to reflect upon the harvest run and recap all of the bad days, funny stories, breakdowns, lessons learned, and successful stops, as we recall the numerous adventures we encountered during the past few months. These memories and emotions seem to always make their way to the surface and intermix with feelings of excitement and anticipation of school. Ever since I could remember it has been the same routine for us Roland kids: When “summer harvest” ends, school begins. Sure, starting school is always thrilling – you finally reunite with your friends you have been separated from all summer long, you establish a general type of routine, and you go back to “real life,” as some people may call it.
In theory, going back to school is a nice break from the hustle bustle lifestyle of wheat harvest. However, after a few weeks of sitting in class and spending several hours studying and doing homework every night you begin to miss the spontaneity of harvest. After living in the same place for a month you start to long for a change of scenery and wonder what’s up the road. Then there are those days of school where you have a thirty page paper to finish and you think “man, I would trade this project for the worst, muddiest, and most challenging wheat field we cut all year.” Growing up we used to joke that all of us kids inherited Dad’s gypsy blood and that we all got bit by the “harvest bug.” Now that we’re all grown up I truly believe this is actually exists. The incredible thing about harvest is that it somehow gets in your blood, digs deep into your soul, and settles into your heart where it never leaves you.
Whenever I would experience these “harvest impulses” during the school year I was calmed by the thought of the following summer. I always knew that once spring rolled around I would be hopping in a semi or pickup to head south with the convoy on another harvest run. However, this is the first year that I don’t have a single idea about what next summer is going to bring. James is stuck in the same limbo as me since him and I will both begin our last year of college this fall. In May, I will graduate with my Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, and James with his Mechanical Engineering degree. As James and I try to figure out our future plans, Brandon will continue to pursue his degree of Agriculture Communications and Jose will go on studying Agriculture Business.
After my graduation it is hard to tell where life will lead me or what I will be doing. Perhaps I will be clear across the country working as an RN in a hospital or maybe I will be back on the harvest trial for the summer until I settle down. At this point in my life I feel like my calling is in the medical field. Nevertheless my amazing experiences on harvest will never leave me and the countless lessons I have learned will never be wasted, but continue to both prepare and benefit me in school and in the work world. Truthfully I hope to reside in a rural farming community someday and I feel confident that given my upbringing in such an area that I will make this dream a reality. And if nursing happens to not be my gig in life than I’ll return to where my heart will always remain: agriculture. You can take the girl off of harvest but you can’t take harvest out of the girl.
Reflecting upon this summer I realize that I was a first-hand witness to history in the making. No really, the summer of 2012 has signified a major milestone for Roland Harvesting. Most summers our crew works all together on the same job but this year we have constantly been split up. The early harvest had a lot to do with our original split in Oklahoma but this led to the unplanned change of Brandon slowly taking over as boss. Brandon, James, and I completed many stops successfully while Mom and Dad worked alone at a different area. It is Brandon’s dream to take over Roland Harvesting and continue to operate it in the same manner my parents have for 35 years. Without any intentions of it happening, this summer ended up being the transitional period that Brandon and Dad needed.
Overall, I have truly enjoyed sharing my family’s harvest journey with you all these past two summers. I feel extremely blessed to have had this opportunity. I would like to offer a huge thank you to the staff at High Plains Journal and Syngenta for sponsoring the 2012 tour of All Aboard Wheat Harvest! AAWH would not be a reality today without the enthusiasm, dedication and help of you! This is such a wonderful way to promote agriculture and I hope that it will continue for many years to come. I would also like to give a sincere thank you to all of you fantastic followers out there as well. Your awesome support is greatly appreciated – from emails to comments, you always made my day. Lastly, I would like to thank our faithful farmers who have helped Roland Harvesting grow and prosper over the last 35 years. Also, a special thank you to the new customers we became acquainted with this summer. All of these farmers, “old” and “new,” continually help to ensure that Roland Harvesting will be around for many years to come. We appreciate your loyalty and business more than you will ever know.
As we finish harvest here in Wyoming I know these upcoming changes are inevitable. But, just because the season of wheat harvest is coming to a close doesn’t mean the spirit of harvest is. When I get back to school I will develop my new harvest photos to hang up in my house for everyone to enjoy and ask about. During Thanksgiving we will share harvest stories over dinner and spend hours laughing with the family about mishaps and adventures. On Christmas morning we will drag out our worn New Holland toy combines to play with our little cousins and show them how harvest works. In February we will begin searching for employees to help out for the upcoming summer. As spring settles in during April, the combines and headers will receive full-blown makeovers as they prepare for the busy months ahead. Finally, in May, the combines will be looking good as new and all chained down on the trailers as the crew begins their journey south for another harvest run. Whether I am leading the convoy in a pilot car bound for Texas or interviewing for a nursing job in California I know my heart will be with harvest. No matter what the season or time of year, no matter where I am or what I’m doing, the spirit of harvest never leaves me.
The boys told me I just had to share this picture with all of you. Ever wonder how we find time to write all these posts? For me, I brainstormed throughout the day and would begin the actual writing process after we finished work for the night, which could range from 10 pm to 2 am. I’d usually stay up for a couple of hours to draft everything out and sort through all the photos. The next morning I’d typically edit my post in the pickup on the way out to the field. The photo above was observed quite often by my fellow crew members. Yes, I’m quite the nerd!
For me, this quote sums up both harvest and life:
“Remember happiness is a way of travel, not a destination” –Roy Goodman
Even though this is a photo from 2010 it’s one of my harvest favorites.
~The spirit of harvest lives on~
All Aboard Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and Syngenta. Megan can be reached at megan@allaboardharvest.com.
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