Montana: While some of our crew finished harvesting wheat in western Kansas, another made their way to northeast Colorado. There were many years we spent several weeks combining in that part of the world. However, Mother Nature decided it would be appropriate to continue the trend of the uncooperative spring weather which persisted throughout our entire southern run. As a result, it didn’t take the crew long to make it through their allotted acres. Twenty bushels per acre would round out the short harvest there.
With harvest in the southern run wrapped up earlier than normal, the crew didn’t have to rush to head north to Montana. The kids finished 4-H projects and summer ball seasons. I helped coach and I was able to leave my yard in tip-top shape as well as my bookwork and mail. We even got to see some family and friends before we went north, which is always a blessing. Harvest has given our children a living classroom to the world, allowed us to meet some wonderful people, travel to beautiful places, and given them courage to live outside of their home’s comfort zone, but there is a price to pay. It does make our lives extremely hard to predict or plan and creates a chasm between our adventurous hearts and those we love back home.
Soon it was time to make the multi-day journey to Montana. Our first stop for the evening came none too soon. Normally it gets cool in the evenings on the High Plains and makes dry camping bearable. In fact, it almost gets cold around three in the morning, but that was not to be. It was a long, warm night.
Morning came all too soon, and we were back on the road. The caravans made good progress, but in Forsyth, Montana, the crew had to stop to work briefly on a truck. After many hours, and multiple days on the road, a travel delay makes a long trip even more trying for everyone, including the younger harvesters. Thankfully, they’re amazing travelers, but I still try to make the trip as positive as possible. For summer travel, I’ve learned it’s always wise to have swimsuits within reach. I also often keep sports equipment, life jackets, and now fishing poles handy. That way, if there’s a delay, they’re equipped for any opportunity to move their bodies, which keeps them off of screens.
Once we knew there was nothing we could do to support the repair, I took the kids down to the Yellowstone River for a needed break. Wading in the cool river helped boost spirits on a warm day. To pass the time, countless minutes were spent watching garter snakes doing their best to catch minnows. As a former science teacher, I’ve tried hard to make the natural world interesting for them, and it paid off that they can entertain themselves and find joy of discovery in the outdoors.
Back on the road we got caught in quite the downpour in the middle of the state. Despite the rain, we continued steady progress, and I thought we would make it to our final destination. Alas, with only a few more hours of daylight left it was decided that we shouldn’t risk making it in time with the wide-load daylight restrictions. There are strict rules surrounding their travel, and individual states can also create their own rules as well. While it was a little disappointing to spend another night dry camping when we were so close, we could be thankful for a good, safe trip so far.
Once set up in north central Montana, it was a hurry up and wait game. The winter wheat still had a few days of drying left, the spring crops were grass green, and the canola was just finishing flowering. The normally arid area recently had some rains, so it was beautiful to see the lush crops and pasture vegetation waving in the wind.
Combines were soon rolling, though there wasn’t enough ripe wheat yet for the full crew to be deployed. The first field of hard red winter wheat had been affected by drought and freeze damage. For reference, this area expects to yield over 60 bushels/acre and more. This field was in the 30s. Much of this crop is taken directly to the bin, so additional crop statistics are limited.
Eventually temperature crept up and kept pace with the heat in other parts of the country. Luckily, yields increased as well as winter wheat harvest progressed. But that’s a story for an article later this month.
Stay safe and cool in this heat and we’ll catch up soon!
