Jada: Back in Bowdle

After cutting a few grueling days in the mud with lodged wheat and rocks, the crew that was cutting in Roscoe our harvesting efforts in Bowdle. We are excited to have everyone back together in Bowdle. The harvesting continues to move at a snails pace but we are making some progress despite the short days.

Today a new crew member joined us- well, for a couple days. Matt stepped out of the comforts of “the cities” [Minneapolis, MN] where he has lived for the majority of his life to live the life of a harvester. The day(s) seem to move by in a blur when we are on the farm. By morning we are farmers until the wheat is ready then we turn into harvesters. I hope Matt enjoys seeing both the farmer and harvester perspective as he joins us tomorrow. Today he received more of a tour and an sampler of what us harvesters do all day. Tomorrow we’ll give him the entree and put him to work ….. or not! : ) Either way, we hope he’ll learn more about our lifestyle.
flooded areas have rocks.

The cutting conditions in Roscoe were tough, not only because the wheat was lodged and we had to cut close to the ground to catch all the heads, but also because rocks have surfaced from all the flooding the area has received. Pictured is what I would call a close escape. Combiners have been keeping alert to avoid running one through the combine. Yesterday, we had to remove a header to get a rock out of the feeder house. Thankfully it got stuck before it ran through the combine and did some major damage.

All aboard this combine.

All Aboard this combine! We had the ultimate “All Aboard” experience when Matt joined our crew this afternoon.

A visit from Matt from Dupont.

Matt  joined us this afternoon to experience the life of a custom harvester. Here Matt is riding with Leon in his combine.

It's snowing chaff.

Doesn’t it look like it’s snowing chaff?

Callum checks to make sure we aren't throwing to much wheat over.

Callum checks to make sure too much wheat isn’t getting thrown over. If it is, settings on the combine need to be changed to prevent this. Too much wheat thrown over can mean volunteer in the field next year.

Combine parked for the evening Andreas gets ready to head home.

Andreas parks his combine for the evening and gets ready to head home.

Standing at 6'3 Roly is shorter than the corn we will cut this fall.

There seems to be some benefits from all the rain our area has received. The fall crops are looking great. Standing at 6’3, Roly is a bit shorter than the corn we will cut for my parents this fall.

Jada can be reached at jada@allaboardharvest.com. All Aboard 2011 is sponsored by High Plains Journal and DuPont Crop Protection.

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