This year was, shall I say, interesting. It was stuck in the middle.

This year has been especially difficult because it was the first year without Dad. As most of you know he passed away last December, and if that wasn’t hard enough – the crop in the southern states was very poor due to the drought. As we progressed north it started to look up, but flooding in the northern states prevented us from our typical wheat harvest stops. However, the fall harvest went well considering it wasn’t the best crop they have had in the area.

The ending of a harvest season is bittersweet. We will celebrate the holidays, but this isn’t going to be our down time because this time of year is a very busy part of our business as we inspect combines, make repairs and restore antique tractors. Sometimes I almost wish we harvested year round, but toward the end I am wishing to be back home in Elk City.

I am looking forward to the next year’s harvest and praying that it will produce a fantastic harvest that is both safe for harvesters and farmers. Thank you All Aboard Wheat Harvest and those of you who follow our journey. I absolutely love hearing your stories and comments – it’s what I’ll miss most this winter!

I wish you all a holy and blessed Christmas, and a prosperous New Year.
Be safe and God bless.

Being in front of the cameras and seeing the other side of things certainly gave our crew and family a different perspective on this show. The film crew followed us for multiple weeks throughout the summer and they spent hundreds of hours collecting raw footage from the field. Although the film crew had their own agenda, they often times worked the same long, hard hours as we did and endured the heat and dust to capture just the perfect shots. (Unfortunately, due to History Channel’s request, I was not able to post any information about the film crew with us this summer. It truly was quite an experience to see how they operated around all of their equipment!)

Anyone who has experienced harvest firsthand and watched the show can recognize that things were portrayed quite differently than they actually are “out in the field.” The important thing is that all the circumstances and concerns that History Channel has focused on are all plausible situations on harvest. One has to remember that this type of show is not being represented as a documentary, but rather more of a “reality show.” I believe my parents put it best. “We (the harvest crews) were simply the paint and the producers were the artists. They made a masterpiece with their own thoughts and interpretations intertwined in it. We were merely the base of the artwork.”

A lengthy list could easily be made about all the things that have been exaggerated in this show. Those of you who have been lucky enough to experience harvest can undoubtedly point out every detail that did not appear accurate. However, I would like to discuss just a few. First off, there is an undeniable inaccurate portrayal of money since often times it appears we’ll be able to make “thousands of dollars from a 2-day job.” Although this aspect may be true, they don’t mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars of combine payments, insurance, and fuel costs we have to pay in order to even operate.

In addition, the show makes a combine breaking down seem like the end of the world. While working 14-hour days all summer long it gets to the place where getting your sickle plugged or activating the stone trap on your combine are common things. Although they do dramatize these “slight breakdowns,” the truth is that if we’re not in the field cutting wheat, than we’re losing money and getting behind.

There were numerous occasions where timelines and situations were not portrayed accurately. Most of you followed All Aboard Wheat Harvest throughout the summer and I believe that you probably already acknowledged these differences. If at any point during the program you thought, “What the heck? Why would you do that?” chances are that that scene was manipulated from the reality of the situation. Now, I don’t want to ruin your views on this type of television but I do have a few insights to share. As anyone in agriculture knows, when a piece of machinery gets stuck you do everything in your power to get it out. If one attempt doesn’t work then you find a bigger piece of machinery to pull it out until you succeed.

Although it was not portrayed in Episode 3, we did just that and were back to operating smoothly within the hour. The same principle applies when the combines break down. I’ve seen Dad spend numerous hours straight working on a combine to get it back up and running. In addition, our crew’s attitudes were slightly manipulated for the show. It is important to remember that there were producers for this show, which means we were portrayed as characters. Brandon is fresh out of high school and does often push Dad to his limits on harvest. Nevertheless, Brandon is one of the hardest workers I know and he always respects Dad and the decisions he makes as boss of Roland Harvesting.

Being in front of the camera and then watching the show, we certainly recognized all of these differences and could easily point out many situations that were depicted in a different light than they actually happened. As custom harvesters, we were simply doing our job and had cameras filming us along the way. We did not make any of the storylines, nor did we create any of the episodes. The first time we saw anything from the show “Harvest” was when my fellow crewmates and family sat down in our living room on October 13^th and anxiously watched the first few scenes of the premiere begin to flash across the TV.

Before this experience of being followed by a film crew and watching the actual show on TV, I used to be one of those people who would analyze these types of shows and question why something was being done or how that situation could be such a big deal. I’m still not entirely sure how this happens but it is the people in the show that are out working and doing their job that are made out to be “dramatic” or “challenged.” However, it is the show, narrator and History Channel that choos to portray these individuals or crews in that light. We spent countless hours explaining harvest and all the hardships to the film crew. It was their choice to “pick and choose” from that as they pleased. I was slightly disappointed with this portrayal since Dad has been harvesting for 33 years and is very knowledgeable in this area. Harvest has been our family’s livelihood for all these years and will be for many years to come.

I think it’s safe to say that anyone involved in harvest would agree: We do wish the show could have been more factually correct. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a more holistic view of harvest. I think it would have been quite effective to explain the entire process from harvesting the wheat, to loading up the semis, to hauling the grain to the elevator and finally explaining what happens to the grain from there. By clarifying these details History Channel easily could have educated consumers a little bit more about where their food comes from.

On a lighter note, I fully enjoyed all the amazing shots they showed of all the different equipment and fields! I’m sure most of us working in this industry have never been able to see some of those angles. Watching the camera on the reel go round and round, or seeing the aerial views while combining – all these shots were just absolutely fascinating to me.

Overall, History Channel is just trying to make a living, just like the rest of us. As Americans I think we sometimes become so critical toward one another that we often lose ourselves in the negativity of it all. Working in agriculture, it is our realm of the world that should understand firsthand that we’re all just trying to get by. As custom harvesters, combining wheat is not only our job but it is our way of life. I believe the U.S. Customer Harvesters Inc. puts it best: “We harvest the crops that feed the world.” As harvesters, we all understand and appreciate the hard work, triumphs and trials, and overall love we have for agriculture.

We endure extreme environments, work outrageously long hours, and operate dangerous heavy machinery on a daily basis. However, we are privileged enough to see the smile of relief on the farmer’s face when the last load of wheat is hauled into the bin, or the feeling of accomplishment as our crews finally pull into to our hometowns after many long months on the road, or the serenity of combining a wheat field at dusk as the sun dips beneath the horizon and its afterglow touches everything in sight.

It is so significant that agriculture and specifically harvest is in the spotlight on a national programming station. After years and years of our efforts through word of mouth, magazines, websites, and documentaries, harvest has finally received fame from one of the most watched TV channels. By starting this spark through the show, a larger portion of the nation who is clueless when it comes to agriculture just might start taking the time to look further and deeper into it which will lead them to all of our current agricultural resources, like All Aboard Harvest.

Lastly, ranchers, farmers, and harvesters are the backbone of America and we don’t need to be shining in the limelight to thrive. Simply being acknowledged and accepting our position in society is enough for us. So, if one show on History Channel about harvest can make a difference and educate Americans about the 1 – 2% of us in the country then I would say in the end, we are the ones who have succeeded.

Megan can be reached at megan@allaboardharvest.com. All Aboard Wheat Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal and DuPont Crop Protection.

In August a few storms went through with very high winds and heavy rain. This type of weather flattens smaller fall crops that are in their growing stages, and unfortunately once flat always flat. Corn cannot just spring back up. We spent our corn harvest picking up corn that was on the ground. In my opinion, weather wasn’t the only factor – and the variety may have played a roll. I say this after seeing a field where two varieties were planted in one field flopping from one pass to the next. One variety was completely flat, the other was not. I suppose the one variety was not able to withstand the fierce weather conditions.

The free-standing corn was not a problem to pickup. We could drive almost seven miles per hour harvesting around 200 bushel per acre corn. The only problem we really had was getting the bushels away. With the flat corn we were only able to drive around three miles per hour and averaging 180 bushels per acre. That is quite a difference. The moisture surprisingly did not vary much at all.

Even with difficulties that Joel had with picking up corn and climbing in and out of the cab, he never lost his sense of humor. Even when the rest of use were at our wits end. I guess we can be thankful this is a fantastic fall – like we had last year in this area. The temperatures are still in the 50′s and even though it has gotten chilly at night, we’re willing to deal if it means no snow.

Erv came back for another visit! He put his truck driving skills to work. We were so happy to have Erv, but since corn harvest has past he has returned home. Aunt Sonja and my cousin Lee have also returned home, just last week. That time is coming for all of us as we are winding down for the year and tying up loose ends here and there. We’ll soon start the long haul home, but for now we’re helping out our farmer Dave with his loose ends.

Here’s a few photos of corn harvest.

This corn is a little tangled, but by far not the worst we saw.

Sometimes it was really hard to see where you needed to go. Who knew that driving down corn rows could be so hard?! With the tangled corn, I quickly learned how to drive an even straighter path, and half-way guess where I needed to be. Not exactly what I was hoping to experience this year.

When the corn was standing tall, and we were getting the bushels out, it was rather fun! It’s amazing how many acres and bushels you can get out in a day with two combines, two carts, numerous gravity wagons and seven trucks. Time really does fly when you’re having fun!

Corn harvest this year did come with a shower or two here and there, but even if we did have moisture, we were back at it the next day just like that!

Mositure came, but didn’t stop us.

A few low clouds.

Very pretty. I think anyway.

Harvesting into the sunset.

After seven months out on the road I’m ready to be home again. There is just something about waking up in the same town night after night, not to mention the comforts of home. Another week or so and I’ll be checking in from Elk City, Okla., and let me tell you that I can’t wait!

Until then, Be safe and God bless!

I wanted to share a few fall harvest stories, since this harvest was not without difficulties. My combine caught fire on the last day of cutting when chaff build up met a hot hydraulic line. It was dry, and windy so even a small fire can be bad. We had been taking precautions to avoid fires by blowing the excess chaff from the machine, but it apparently wasn’t enough. Dan, Joel, Lee and I fought the fire as best we could and emptied all the extinguishers we had, but it wasn’t enough. The 40 mile per hour wind helped this fire get out of control fast. The fire department did get called and while we waited for them we fought the fire with one shovel and our feet.

Two hours, five fire trucks and an ambulance for precaution later, we had the fire out. Luckily it didn’t reach the corn, and if it weren’t for the teamwork we had it could have resulted a lot differently.

This is the field post-fire. The ground is worked where the fire was, and it’s not exactly a small are. I didn’t get any pictures of the actual fire – because I was busy fighting it.

The soybeans this year averaged around 45 bushels per acre, nine percent moisture, and 58 pound test weight. Overall it was a good year. We did run into some green vines while cutting, and it took a little extra time.

Cutting soybeans.

This is the last field of soybeans that we harvested.

More soybean harvest.

Be safe and God bless!

My Aunt Sonja and cousin Lee have joined us to help out. Sonja is running one of our combines, and has in the past. Lee was here for a couple days before going back and will come back next week when he can get off work. We really do appreciate all their hard work, and of course we love spending time with them.

Here’s a few photos from our last three days.

The first field of beans in 2011. Dan is setting the combine to soybeans. The combine has a particular setting that is different from wheat because the seeds are different sizes. Finding those setting can be a challenge.

I love to see how clean the ground looks when a field of soybeans is done. Everything is looking crisp and neat.

The way I would describe what wheat chaff looks like is sawdust. It’s very fine and feels like sawdust.

The beans are testing around 10 percent moisture and that is where they should be. The elevators around here will take beans that test between eight and 13 percent moisture.

We are cutting directly on the ground. A two inch, or less, stem is what is left behind. We cut soybeans so low becasue the beans actually grow all the way down at the bottom of the stem. Depending on the crop you can as many as 200 pea-sized beans in just one stem.

I’m glad to be harvesting again, especially soybeans. I think beans are my favorite crop to harvest. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and maybe the way a field is crisp and clean when completed suits me.

Be safe and God bless.

It’s likely we’ll be done with our soybean harvest before we get to the corn. Dan thinks we should be able to harvest at least by the end of the week, but I think we’ll be testing as early as tomorrow. We are crossing out fingers and hope that we will be harvesting soon and that it will be just as good as last year. Let’s just hope the weather stays nice. Fall harvest will be complete before we know it.

There is quite a variation in this field of soybeans.

Toward the top of the stalk the beans are still soft, but are much more mature.

At the bottom they're green, and very moist.

The stalks are still quite green.

The stalks are turning, but still mostly green.

Corn harvest looks to be good this year!

The corn is starting to dent.

Be safe out there on the roads during the upcoming fall harvest. A few farmers are already on the move. Keep your eyes peeled!

Be safe and God bless.

As we wait on the fall crops to mature we’re working on a few odds and ends. As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, Thad and Christoph are no longer here so it seems like an empty house with just Mom, Dan, Joel, and I to take care of business. My Aunt Sonja and cousin Lee will be helping us out off and on throughout the fall season. We don’t run as many combines during fall harvest as we do during wheat harvest. The farmer we’re cutting for has hired men of his own to help out with the trucking side of things. We’ll be running three of our combines through soybean harvest. We’ll then move to corn and run only two machines. Our trucks will be hot on the road trying to keep up with us. This means if you’re driving – watch out for truck traffic while harvest is still full throttle.

Since we’ve moved to Rock Rapids we miss the Price family (Dave, Julie and Andy). Our visit was enjoyable and we shared a lot of laughs with good friends. We have been in the Sioux Falls area for nearly a month now, so we’re ready to move on. It looks like soybean harvest is about a week away.

Until next time, Be safe and God bless!

All of us at DuPont Crop Protection would like to thank everyone who made the 2011 All Aboard Wheat Harvest Tour^™ possible, especially our hard-working correspondents and guest correspondents working to bring in the wheat and the High Plains Journal team.

From wheat and weather conditions, adventures and celebrations to their daily harvest challenges and successes, Jada, Emma, Jenna, Megan and Scott did a great job of keeping us up to date on the busy lives of wheat harvest crews who are working to feed the world.

We’d also like to thank our loyal followers who have trekked through this year’s harvest with us and continue to support America’s wheat industry.

With a successful harvest behind us, it’s time for our teams to make their way home and get ready for next season. Thanks for a great harvest and please keep it safe.

For more information contact crew@allaboardharvest.com.

Ten years goes by quickly. I was only 13 years old, but it definitely made an impression. As we remember those men and women who lost their lives, keep in mind the bravery that was shown on that fateful day. I pray that people will never forget what happened that day, and I take pride in being an American and the country we live in – and often take for granted.

Thank you to all of the brave service men and women, those in public service, and the everyday men and women who keep us safe.

I found a few quotes that struck me, and I’d like to share a few of them with you all.

“Terrorism against our nation will not stand.”
-George W. Bush -Remarks at Emma Booker Elementary School. Sarasota, Florida -delivered 11 September 2001, 9:30 a.m. EDT

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.”
-President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

“Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend – even a friend whose name it never knew.”
-President George W. Bush, December 11, 2001

“Our enemies have made the mistake that America’s enemies always make. They saw liberty and thought they saw weakness. And now, they see defeat.”
-President of the United States, George W. Bush

Here is a video I also found on the internet that touched me. It makes me think of my Dad. He loved his country so dearly, and I am so grateful he passed that on to me.
God bless the USA!

Click to view this lovely patriotic video!

‘I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all’

Be safe and God bless.

Christoph will have to head back to school, but my guess is he’ll be back for another visit. Thad had to get back to his family, and farm in Nebraska. We enjoyed our time with both of them and have enjoyed them being a part of our crew. I’m glad they both had the opportunity to experience harvest. Both of them have been adopted into the Misener family, and now they’ll have to come back, soon.

Grandpa and Grandma Green

We liked having you around, Thad! Come back and visit! :)

In the days leading up to Christoph’s departure, he helped us out by building fence, putting up tin on the shed, and loading some bales into the barn. He loved the farm life, and I know he misses being here already.

Christoph unloading the hay rack onto the elevator.

Up it goes into the hay loft.

Andy then takes the bales and stacks them up.

Be safe and God bless.