Fortuna, North Dakota: Harvest is moving along. We have mostly completed all our work in Montana, and moved most machines over between Ray, North Dakota, and Fortuna, North Dakota. Our moves over to North Dakota went well, and we thankfully didn’t have too many issues on the way. It’s always a good feeling to have safe moves when we move so many miles, with so much heavy equipment.
Montana has been a great stop this year, as it always is. The only major difference this year has been all the rain. I told our crew it mostly never rains in Montana and we work very consistently through our weeks there. It was very surprising to have so many rain delays. We still managed to complete crops in a timely manner, but there’s still a lot of lentils left to complete.
After moving over to North Dakota, the weather was very warm to start, and has now turned a bit chilly. We’re hoping to see some warmer temps after this cool spell is done.
Starting out, we’ve been working on lentils and peas. The lentils are averaging about 20 to 30 bushels per acre. Peas are seeing about 55 to 60 bushels per acre. We have seen some hail damage, and also some weed issues. They are all something that hasn’t changed with the weather conditions we’ve seen all over this year.
Looking forward, we have a lot to cut yet before we start moving south for fall harvest. Around home, crops look amazing. The beans are still really green and haven’t started to turn yet. I imagine it will probably be around the 15th to 20th of September before we start any beans, but depending on the weather, that could change at any time.
Zoey and I have now headed home to start school. We brought one of our crew with us, so he could do the same at Iowa State University. It’s always quite a transition moving from harvest life, to home life. I think about our crew everyday, and hope all goes well until we meet up again for fall harvest.
I am so grateful for all our followers this year! And all the years. It’s such a blessing to share our journey and all the things we go through. We are praying for all farmers, harvesters, and anyone in between for safe travels, and safe operating. I am looking forward to fall, my favorite season, and the beautiful crops that are still growing and hopefully producing for the fall harvest. Stay safe embarking on your own journey, and thanks for following me this season!
