Wes and Jan see the US Wanderings and Side Trips

The end of the story.... Jul 16, 2008

Wheat harvest is finally finished - and so is my story of the "life of wheat". Harvest has been going on for about two weeks here in our county. Many combines and the support machinery have been seen in fields and on the highways. The machines are getting so big, they can pretty much finish up a harvest in a few days if all the conditions are right. Shan and Shea were able to cut most of our wheat themselves this year. It was not as abundant as last year's crop. Also, it was not all ripe at the same time because of various weather conditions etc. So, they were able to spread harvest out a bit. It rained towards the end of harvest, so all progress stopped for a few days. By the time it was dry enough to get back into the fields, the weeds were getting pretty high. Some farmers had to spray the weeds before they could finish cutting the wheat. I was able to go out and get some good photos of the harvest.

Shea is Shan's son and has gone into the farming/ranching business with his Dad. He is now married and has a daughter. One day while I was taking photos, Shea had his wife and daughter on the combine riding with him. It sure doesn't seem like it was very long ago that Shea was the baby/child riding with Shan on the combine. Time sure does fly. It is great to see young people coming home and taking on the challenges of farming and ranching. It is satisfying to see the traditions continued.

The last field being cut was about 1/2 mile from our house and we could see a second combine in the field with Shan's red one. Shan had been talking about a new machine, so we went out to take a look. It was a big green mean machine and it was cutting circles around the little red machine. Turned out it was a friend who was finished with his wheat, so he pulled in to help Shea and Shan finish up their last field. It was an awsome combine. A 36 foot long header, so long that it was actually two reels instead of one. It had it's own set of wheels to stabilize it while cutting. Don't know how big the bin was, but it almost filled one truck. And the speed at which it could cut was much faster than the little combine. We certainly can't afford that one and we really aren't that pleased with John Deere these last few years. They have moved much of their production out of the US and their customer service stinks. They are closing many of their small dealerships and concentrating on large regional sales centers. In the middle of harvest, it is not very convenient to have to transport your combine to a service center 100 miles away and you might get it back in time to finish harvest. In my farming career, every town had a John Deere dealership with a fantastic service center. The mechanics would even come out to the field and repair your machine so you could get right back to work! That is unheard of today. Many farmers are changing to other brands of farm machinery, but John Deere is still a fond memory.

I love to watch the combines in the field. They always reminded me of "old time" ladies at a ball, with their gowns and bussels. They move so smoothly and turn so gracefully and when there is more than one, it seems like a dance as they travel around the field.

All the wheat is stored or has been delivered to the elevators for shipment, and all the machinery is cleaned up and stored for the next harvest. And wheat harvest is but a memory for another year.