Monday, June 24, 2013

Scattered showers this morning have stopped wheat harvesting.  Just when you think it’s over, it cuts loose again.  Hear that thunder!  But the delay allows the JL Equipment technician to repair the A/C in Ross’ combine.  He ran it all afternoon yesterday in that hot box called a cab!  I admire his stamina, for I think I would be ‘broke down’ if I had no cool air in my combine!  Luckily, the temperatures were 80F instead of 90F.

Our neighbor, Tom Loudermilk, has arrived with his baling crew, and they are rolling up the straw into big round bales rather quickly.  He runs two balers, and the thick straw windrows are making many bales.  It’s a pretty sight to see them scattered across the fields, but they don’t remain there very long because they also have two rigs to pick up the bales (4 at a time) and stack them neatly at the edge of the field.

Here is the baling crew as they were stopped for a short time yesterday evening for supper. It’s like a hive of bees when you watch them in action!

If only the sun will come out and give us more opportunity to cut wheat.  Ross commented about his memory of a long-ago wheat harvest that was rainy like this one.  He said that the wheat grain eventually began to sprout in the head.  Let’s hope that does not happen to the remainder of our crop.  So far, it has been of excellent quality.  As the guys deliver nine truckloads (about 10,000 bushels) to the market at Robinson Elevator today, the buyer has remarked about the high quality of the wheat we are sending him today.

As soon as these former wheat fields get dry enough, the double-crop soybeans will begin to go in.  The planter is loaded and ready.