Worthington, Minnesota: It’s a rainy start this morning as the second trip down south has begun. Patrick left with the first load down to Wichita Falls, Texas last Wednesday, and we’ll take off for the last time from home this Saturday.
The crew headed down this trip is a lot of our female crew. They have all been working hard on gaining their Commercial Driver’s License, and will have the ability to use it today as some will pull combine and tractor and cart south, also with the trains and service truck. The girls seemed ready for the task, and I hope they have the best trip.
Zoey and I have stayed back this trip to finish preparing campers and packing up. We’ll have a couple more people taking their CDL driving test today, and the last two should be able to test Thursday before we take off. If everyone passes Thursday, all our J1 trainees will have their complete license. It’s good to get the last few bits sorted out while we have a slim crew to cook for.
Around home, corn has sprouted and appears to have a pretty good start. We had a little bit of a scare with possible freezing temps after planting, but thankfully Mother Nature didn’t decide to go there. Hopefully the weather will get a little warmer soon, we’ve been holding steady the last week or so around 60 to 70 degrees. I think the corn could use some sun and heat. It’ll be a shock to get down south and in some actual heat.
The slow start this season just proves how unpredictable this line of work can be. Last fall we saw probably one of the earliest endings to harvest in many years, and now we’re still home and it’s almost June. We’re probably only about a week or two later than normal, but it feels like the start to harvest is taking forever. It definitely makes everyone a little antsy and I’m beyond ready to just get down south.
Patrick had an uneventful trip south. Acres there are not quite ready, but the crew down there was able to join in on U. S. Custom Harvesters, Inc.’s Safety Day. They hopefully picked up good tips on safety and enjoyed seeing other crews. The turn out this year was pretty good considering there are a lot of crews that are just getting down south. Harvesters are making their way down, but it’s a little slower going, as crops are ready, and some crops aren’t there.
As far as the outlook on getting to start in Texas goes, they were hoping to get started this weekend but had two inches of rain. It will be a few more days now before they can get started. I’m anxious to see how everything turns out this season, and also anxious to actually get a look at the crops. Prayers for all those heading south, hope the trips go smooth and the wheat is ready soon. I hope next time we catch up, you’ll see what the wheat is doing.
Christy can be reached at [email protected].
