Winter Wheat Harvest 2015

What a crazy growing season it has been!

Harvest is really when we see what we have for a crop. It's a reflection of a year's worth of planning and work, mixed with some luck.

Grain cascades out the back of the truck in to the hopper of the auger, where it is carried up into the grain bin.

As you may have read in my harvest post from last week, we started cutting winter wheat last Monday and went pretty hard for seven days straight. The crop is mostly decent in some places for the weather conditions we had throughout the growing season this year. Our bushels per acre are definitely down from what they have been in recent years for winter wheat and in some fields, they're downright poor with barely enough yield to pay for running the combine. The crop is what it is and there's not as much of it, so it's just a matter of getting it cut and moving on.

Jeff walks between the tractor, which powers the auger, and the grain truck.

Montana is the third-highest wheat producing state in America, after Kansas and North Dakota. Hill County, where our farm is located, is right in the middle of what's called the "Golden Triangle,"--one of the best wheat-producing areas in Montana. Hill County had a doozie of a weather pattern this year-- drought conditions through the first six months of the year, then a horrendous 4th of July hail storm. So, what that means is farmers who may have had thinner-than-normal crops to begin with due to drought, then got hit with hail, which in some cases, knocked down what was left. According to this article from the Great Falls Tribune, Hill County experienced over seven million dollars in hail damages: Hill County Hail Damage Could Exceed $7.5 Million Farmers saw a significant portion of that damage. Our own farm was affected.

Winter wheat near Minneota Hall that was cut on Sunday. Sweetgrass Hills in the background.

This is the first year of implementation of the new protection programs for farmers from the most recent Farm Bill and we are learning all about how that works. Let it be known to my non-farming readers that no farmer wants to see their crop do poorly; everyone wants to cut a gangbuster crop every year. No one wants a "hand-out" from the government. But, if there weren't protection programs and Farm Bills in place, there wouldn't be farmers. Some years, the crop is not a bin-buster, but a complete bust. A successful Farm Bill keeps farmers farming and keeps food and land in production.

A wheat field, baled as hay to use for our animals, rather than being harvested for grain.

The above photo is of some land that a neighbor of ours farms. His crop was unfortunately so poor that it wouldn't have paid for him to harvest it. But, you still have to clear the field somehow so it can be ready for it's next crop. So, we used a swather to cut the wheat and make hay bales, which we'll feed to our cows this year. Sometimes you just have to be a bit creative and think of other ways to use what you have.

Grain bins between Minneota Hall and the Inverness Road.

After shutting the combine down for the evening on Sunday night, we haven't started it up again yet this week. It started raining on Sunday and has gone off and on until this morning. Hopefully tomorrow we can cut the last 100 acres or so of winter wheat. Then, it will be time for barley, then spring wheat.

Before the night was over on Sunday, however, we did take part in what is sometimes a harvest necessity, but definitely a tradition: meal in the field! Sometimes, the location where they're cutting wheat is far from the house or it is inconvenient for the harvest crew to come in to the house to eat dinner. So, whoever is in charge of cooking will take the meal out to them. Sunday night was one of these occasions. It just happened that we were cutting right by Minneota Hall, which is an old community call out in the country near our farm, so it worked perfectly to serve the meal right on the cement step in front of the hall!

Carol cooked. We had hamburgers, pasta salad, chips, and fruit, served out of the bed of the pickup.

Carol and Jeff eat while Tom (unpictured) makes another pass in the combine.
When we eat in the field, the guys typically take turns so that the combine can keep rolling.

It seems like it was the winter wheat that was hit the worst by the drought. We had pretty outstanding sub-moisture last fall for winter wheat seeding, and then a warm and mild spring. So, the winter wheat came up hard and fast early in the season, using up all the soil moisture that was available. Then, when the rain stopped, the winter wheat stopped. By the time the storm of the 4th of July hit, it was really too late to be helped by the rain that did come along with it. We've had the rain in July that our crops desperately needed in May and June. Our spring wheat and barley still had a chance to be influenced and helped by a little rain. So, we'll see how it looks when we start cutting those crops.

Harvey stalks a bunny.

Just for fun, here's a photo of Harvey stalking a rabbit. He stalks them and chases them, but almost never catches them. Stay tuned as harvest and farm proceedings continue!

Puddles and Pests

We are definitely in the throes of summer heat these days with temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s and nary a breeze to be felt or cloud to provide a moment of shady refuge. The heat certainly puts stress on the crops, especially our spring wheat, which was seeded later in the spring. 

Because of this heat stress, we were especially glad to drive up the road Friday morning and see this:

(This and all subsequent photos were taken by Jeff on his phone.)

Puddles!

 We had a little rain event on Thursday at about Midnight that gave the wheat a quenching shower and vastly improved our outlook for the success of our crop. Jeff and I spent some time walking down the road, checking the rain gauge, and walking through the spring wheat.

 

It was a pleasant 60 degree morning with cloud cover-- a much welcomed change from the recent heat-- and nice weather for a crop tour. The wheat liked it, too!

There is one particular creature that always seems to be more abundant in heat, however, and that would be rattlesnakes. We hadn't seen any in the yard yet this year, but had seen a few on the roads among our fields, and had just been discussing that it would only be a matter of time before we encountered one up close and personal.  

That afternoon, as the day warmed to around 80 degrees, we spent some time doing yard work-- mowing, weedeating, eradicating weeds, and getting some of our grain bins ready for harvest. I was up near the house working on weeds when I heard Jeff yell from one of the back bins on the other end of the yard. Based on what I knew he was doing, and where he was, I figured one of two things had happened:

1) He needed some help with machinery

or...

2) He had an encounter with a rattlesnake. 

If you guessed option 2, you are correct! Jeff had been cautious approaching the bin, but we hadn't quite trimmed the weeds around it's opening yet and as he reached down into the grass to look for something, he heard the telltale, unmistakable warning of a snake's rattle. If he had been 18 inches closer to the snake, he would have had his hand right on him. That's when he backed away slowly and started yelling for me to come over. 

The snake was hard to see at first. Natural selection creates some excellent camouflage. But once I found him, coiled, milky-eyed, and angry, I stayed and kept an eye on him (from a safe distance!) while Jeff went after the shotgun. 

Shortly thereafter, the snake met his untimely end:

(Warning: Somewhat gruesome photo to follow!)

 Since he was coiled when Jeff shot, the snake lost his head, his rattle, and a few chunks of his midsection. Needless to say, he wouldn't be bothering us anymore.

We talk all the time about how rattlesnakes are part of the ecosystem here and are actually quite good at keeping gophers, mice, and other small rodents from overpopulating and becoming a nuisance. But. BUT. A person can't allow a dangerous rattlesnake to be living near a grain bin in their yard. Especially when that person has a curious farm dog and with harvest approaching. Our general rule is that snakes in a field or pasture will probably be left alone, but in or near the yard and they should probably be toasted. 

So, now we know for sure they're out there. Time to make sure the yard and surrounding environs stay nicely mowed and trimmed, keep a cautious eye and ear out, maintain eye contact on the dog as much as possible, wear close-toed shoes, watch where you're walking or running, etc. Trying to keep close encounters of the rattling kind at bay until fall. 

To read more about snakes in the yard, check out this post I did from about a year ago-- one of my most popular ever! http://www.prairieponderingsmt.blogspot.com/2013/07/snakes-on-plains.html.

Until next time, readers!