Harvest 2019 has progressed to the level where all our resources are assigned to its completion.

Like a slow building tropical storm, the first few days of harvest require only a handful of men and machines. The number of fields ready for combining are limited and the daily shift length is shortened due to the crop's hesitant maturity.

But with a killing frost behind us and both corn and beans crops fit for harvesting, the storm has grown into a hurricane of tractors, trucks, combines and personnel scrambling to gather the crop, pump the manure, and work the land before the ground freezes.

Our best bean the last few years is an early maturing variety which we plant first to open fields for manure application. The combination of well drained farms, early planting and maturity allowed us to start combining beans around September 20. Despite weekly rainfall events that have limited us to a couple short work windows, bean harvest is 70% complete. Yield is down 10-15% as expected.

Manure application follows bean harvest. Fewer than half the days since late September have been dry enough for tillage. However, with five 4800 head sites already pumped, Andy and his Team are on pace for late November completion.

Say a prayer for the manure pumpers!

On days to damp to harvest beans, we can usually pick corn. We raised the maximum harvestable moisture level to 27% this year thanks to an exceptional spot premium at local ethanol plants. 

When harvesting corn over 23% moisture, drying capacity is the choke point for harvest rate. Calvin is responsible for maximizing the output from the twin Grain Handler dryers. Thanks to his thorough preseason inspection and years of experience, break downs are infrequent and short lived.

In contrast to local and national yield predictions, we believe our corn is better than last year. Blame me when a freak November blizzard decimates our unharvested fields and results in a lower overall average. Barring that occurrence, we expect very good corn yields. 

Danni, Lindsay and Morgen, our harvest support crew in the front office have stepped up with daily sack lunches, weekly grocery trips and emergency parts runs in addition to their regular duties.

No one escapes the all-encompassing realignment of priorities that harvest demands.

It is that shared sense of purpose that makes harvest so rewarding and brings out the best in us.

This is also the time of year when we are most vulnerable to impatience, fatigue and poor choices which lead to accidents. Mistakes still happen but the trend is in the direction of better.

We will keep doing our best and hope for a safe harvest.

Forty five days remain till Thanksgiving, our target date for completing harvest. I will keep you informed as the season unfolds. 

 Jim