What's Going On In Our Fields Right Now?

Claire helping get the combine ready to go to the field.

A little over a week ago we finished up wheat harvest.  Usually our wheat is ready to harvest around the beginning of July, but this year it took a little longer to mature, so we weren’t able to start harvesting until mid-July. 

The wheat that was just harvested was planted last fall, was dormant during the winter months, and then grew and matured during this spring and summer.  In my opinion wheat is the prettiest crop!  I love the golden color it takes on right before harvest, and this year I was lucky enough to have the field directly behind me planted to wheat so I got to see it all the time J 



Combining wheat on a pretty summer day.

As the combine harvests the wheat the grain is separated from the stalk.  The stalk can be chopped up by the combine and spread on the field, or can be put into windrows to be baled as straw.  Usually we don’t bale any straw, but this year we baled the field right behind our house.  Claire was very concerned noting that the large bales in the field didn’t belong there, ha-ha.  Straw can be used for a variety of things including animal bedding, or to increase fiber in cattle feed.

 

The wheat grain that the combine collects is hauled to grain elevators by semis and trailers.  The grain elevators then sell the grain to be used for a wide array of products found in our grocery stores such as bread, cereal, and beer, just to name a few.

It’s a great feeling getting the wheat finished!  The weather made wheat harvest go as smooth as possible.  In order to have a productive harvest the weather has to be dry and warm, and that’s just what we got…thanks mother nature! J

Thanks to the great weather we were even able to combine into
the early night.  Something typically abnormal due to the
humidity during summer nights.

Now that wheat harvest is done it’s a nice idea to think we have some down time or free time until soybean and corn harvest starts in the fall.  But, we have lots of “non- field work” to get done before that time….stay tuned J