21 May Z Crew: Let’s hit the road, Jim

Manley, NE: Ahh…Back in the saddle again! It feels great to have my blogging hat on once again. I’ve definitely missed it! The weather is warming up, the thunderheads are moving in and the wheat down in the southern states is starting to turn. Have the last eight months flown by for you too?

If you’re just now jumping on the All Aboard train, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Taylor Zeorian. I’m daughter number three (of four) for the Zeorian Harvesting crew. This will be my 20^th summer on the wheat harvest run.

My family’s story begins all the way back in 1974 when my great-grandma asked my mom (Tracy) if she’d like to go along on the harvest run with her and Great-Grandpa Hancock. A year later she met my dad (Jim) for the first time, a hired man for her grandparent’s crew. They were married in 1982.

In the fall of ’82 Dad spent his entire life savings on a combine and the rest is history! My oldest sister, Jamie, was born in 1985 and Jenna in 1988. Up until 1990, Mom stayed home during the summer with Jamie and Jenna while Dad and Grandpa left to chase the crops. That summer, for the first time as a family, Mom, Dad, Jamie and Jenna packed the trailer, loaded the combine and headed south.

In the fall of 1994, the Zeorian family was blessed with a beautiful baby girl that would complete their lives and fill their hearts full of love. And then in the fall of 1997 my little sister, Callie, was born. And we’ve been on the road every summer since.

Jamie was married in April 2011 to Curt. They have now provided the two most adorable babies in the entire world to our family. My nephew, Eli, turned 2 in April and Nora was born in December 2014. Their family stays home during the summer in eastern Nebraska (where the rest of the family resides in the off season). Jenna had to make the tough decision two years ago to stay home during the summer months. However, she remains working in the ag world for CLAAS of North America.

Callie and I are the daughters who remain to support the small harvest crew composed of Mom and Dad. Our operation consists of one combine and two trucks. We don’t hire any outside help because Dad’s stubborn and knows we can do it on our own. Mom and Dad make up the combine and truck drivers. They switch jobs on occasion. As the support crew, our daily activities involve cooking, cleaning and fighting. On occasion I help Dad load the combine for moving days, pull the header or trailer house and make parts runs to nearby towns, if need be.

We look forward to heading south to western Oklahoma within the next couple weeks. According to a Miami, Oklahoma, news source, a year after the worst wheat crop in 50 years the 2015 crop looks to more than double the bushels produced in 2014. Having adequate moisture and temperatures remaining under 80 degrees play the most important roles in the crop’s bushel count. As long as the weather doesn’t drastically stir up 110 degree days, Oklahoma is looking to have a promising crop. In regard to the crop in the western (or the Panhandle) part of the state, it won’t come in as strong as it normally would but we hope to have a promising first stop on this leg of the All Aboard Harvest train.

Funnily enough, the photo above was supposed to be used as our 2014 Christmas card photograph. But life happened and a Zeorian Christmas card was never sent out!
(Left to Right: Curt, Jamie [and Nora], Callie, Jim, Tracy and Eli, Taylor, [Taylor’s boyfriend] Colten, Jenna, [Jenna’s boyfriend] Mat.

And then a few weeks later…ta-da! Nora was born on Dec. 5, 2014. Eli wasn’t sure what to think of his new competition. Now, Eli and Nora are best friends.

Easter 2015: The whole Zeorian Crew posed for a photo following Easter church services.
(Top Row/Left to Right): Colten, Taylor, Callie, Jenna, Mat (Bottom Row): Jim, Tracy, Nora, Jamie, Eli, Curt

All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ is sponsored by High Plains Journal and New Holland Agriculture. The Z Crew can be reached at zcrew@allaboardharvest.com.