Christy: Fall in full swing

Hartley, Iowa and Round Lake, Minnesota: Fall is in full swing between Iowa and Minnesota. Beans have mostly all disappeared, and highways are crowded with grain trailers hauling a great corn harvest. Beans have fared well between 60 and 85 bushels per acre; some spots saw even higher yields. Corn is averaging out at about 200 to 250 bushels an acre, so it is proving to be an excellent harvest this season.

Bean harvest went incredibly quick this year. At the start, I was thinking it would be slow going, mainly because the weather was mild and I thought we would be waiting on the beans to dry. That definitely wasn’t the case. The weather remained hot and dry with no rain, which in turn really moved corn along. As soon as beans were completed, we went straight in to corn, and the corn has been pretty dry to continuously combine without breaks. With great conditions, and equally great crops, I feel like we are having a very successful fall harvest. The AF9 that Paul is running has proven to be an awesome machine in both beans, and corn. In beans he ran a fifty-foot MacDon draper head, and in corn, for the most part, he has been running a sixteen row Case head. One grain cart in corn is not enough, and the two carts he has struggle to keep up. It is unreal how quickly he can run in corn, and the acres he can cover in a day. He’s had a couple of breakdowns, but for the most part the machine is running really well. One breakdown was the elevator chain broke. This took a couple of days to repair, so Titan Machinery loaned him an AF11 for a couple of days while his was being repaired. The AF11 was even more so impressive for the ground it could cover and easily handle the high yielding crops. As of right now, I believe we will be running two AF9’s next harvest.

Zoey has been helping out on the weekends, and it’s hard for her to have to go to school (aka ‘jail’) while the crew is ‘having all the fun’. The crew jokes with her when we bring supper out always asking “How was jail today?”. It’s pretty funny. This fall, Zoey has decided to learn grain cart, and is coming along very nicely. She has her father’s talent for operating equipment. I’m really appreciative of our crew for taking the time to work with her. It means a lot to Zoey, and also a lot to me.

This Sunday morning the crew had a late start since the elevator isn’t open until noon. I decided we should have a big breakfast, and the crew came over for French toast, bacon, eggs, sausage, cinnamon rolls, and pineapple. I was pleased to see many get up for seconds. I usually do breakfast a few times throughout the season, but for some reason it hasn’t happened this year. Our crew usually gets lunch and supper, and they are on their own for breakfast normally. It was a great treat.

With corn acres dwindling down, we can see the end of fall harvest on the horizon. I think it’s going to be another early ending fall harvest as long as the weather remains as consistent as it has. For as few days off as we’ve had, I think we’ll all be ready for things to slow down. Our crew has been great to work with, and I will be sad to see them head out. We are hoping everyone continues to have a great fall harvest, and safe fall harvest.

All Aboard Fall Harvest is sponsored by High Plains Journal.