Monday morning, June 17, 2024

We got started harvesting wheat on Thursday.  Brandon took the S780 to the Herman field near Wheatland to check it out.  We only took one combine just in case the grain was too wet to harvest.  Lo, and behold:  The wheat was dry, 11.8%, so he kept on going.  I helped a bit with the grain cart, until Brandon’s wife Emily showed up to operate it.  She did very well… no spills!   We value accuracy over speed.  I used the evening to plant double-crop soybeans (DCB) in the stubble of the first two fields that Brandon harvested.  It’s interesting that the soybean seed was placed into dry soil.  It will take a rain to get those to grow.  How odd that the soil is that dry after the big rainy month of May we just experienced!  We will be praying for some rain soon!

The next day, I got started with the new S780.  The salesman, Nathan Bonifer, rode with me to get the new machine set.  We knew pretty much how to set the threshing settings, because of Brandon’s machine, but I had to learn much about the Gen5 screen, and configure it the way I wanted it to look.  Nathan also helped me do the initial yield calibrations to make ‘Active Yield’ as accurate as we could make it.  It was a very good first day for the new machine.

We are a bit disappointed with the yield levels.   Ever since the wheat was planted, it looked exceptional, and when the experts came by to evaluate it, they always gave glowing reports.  But, alas, the extra-soggy month of May brought down the yield potential.  Dad always told us, “If you want a good wheat crop, you need a cool and dry May.”  Well, for sure we had the cool part, but not the dry part.  Even so, the crop is averaging at about a break-even point, so it certainly could be worse.   Be thankful we have a crop to bring in!

Here are some scenes from the first couple days of wheat harvest.

Brandon got us started on Thursday.  His machine uses a MacDon header.

Emily is new to the grain cart, and she did very well!

This picture is from Saturday evening, when we had both machines working near each other.

Here, Brandon opens up the Herman field near Wheatland.  You can see the traffic on US 50 on the far side of the combine.

Here’s my view from the cab on Saturday evening.

All in all, a good start to #wheatharvest24.

We took off Fathers’ Day, and it was a good one.   Church at WCC was wonderful.  I had lunch with John and his family.  Ben was working, but he called me from DTW, before his plane took off for Seattle.  Later in the day, Pat and I drove down to Evansville for a nice supper.  I even got to drive her new car, and that was fun.  Fathers’ Day was really great.

Back to work today.  The hope is to finish off #wheatharvest24 by tomorrow evening.  Then, my  goal is to catch up planting the remainder of the DCB, and the replant soybeans.  I hope by next week we will have more normal working hours, and maybe even a little time to mow some roadsides.

Have a great week.  Keep cool on these hot days!