As you all know by the dust in the air it is harvest season. Farmers are filling the fields with combines, wagons, trucks, and grain carts because it’s time to get the crops out. Sometimes it can get a little crazy busy on the farm during harvest. However, even still during this busy season, you have to find time to laugh. Here are some fun harvest stories that have happened throughout the years.
One funny story takes place when delivering lunch. Usually, I call and they give me the name of the field and I drive there and park by the trucks at the field entrance. Well, one time when I drove to the field I thought was said, when I pulled in I didn’t see a semi and my stomach dropped. I somehow managed to go to the wrong field. The dinners were a tad on the cold side before I made it to the right location.
A neighbor once was chopping at a farm near ours. He had a big dinner in a picnic basket that he took to the field that his wife prepared for all the help. After lunch, he pulled the next full load home. As he started to unload, he instantly heard the loud crunching and banging of the pretty picnic basket and real plates going up the silo pipe. He had forgotten that he set the lovely basket in the front of the full chopper box for the ride home. He wasn’t sure how to explain that to his wife and was thinking he might be going hungry for the next few days!
This one was not funny at the time but it sure is now. I was supposed to pick up my dad at a different farm and give him a ride to another one. We were to meet at the big machine shed on a rented farm. When I pulled in by the east side of the shed, I thought I was early so I leaned back in the seat for a quick nap in the warm sunshine coming through my window until he got there. When I woke up from a quick power nap, I called my dad to see where he was? All this time he was waiting on the west side of the shed. Until this day he won’t admit it but I am sure he was sleeping, too. Although, he calls it, “thinking with his eyes closed!”
Harvest is stressful but remember to see the fun in every day, and catch a quick nap any chance you can. It’s the fun things that keep us going and I love to make everyone smile! Happy Harvest!
~ Kesley Holdgrafer
Friday, October 16, 2020
Monday, October 12, 2020
Fall and Harvest Jobs
The weather is starting to get colder with each brisk morning and pumpkin spice fills the air. Halloween decorations are out, pumpkins are carved, decorated, and put out everywhere. Fall is in full swing. For farmers however, it means it is one of the busiest times of the year. It can get pretty crazy around our farm because each day is jam packed with multiple things to get done. The days seem to get shorter as night sets in sooner than before.
When I get to the parking lot after school, my phone blows up with missed phone calls and text messages of things I need to do once I get home. Fall is when I become very grateful that we have an eight hour school day because that means I get at least an eight hour break from the madness. Some days it is so crazy that farmers forget what day of the week it is. They think it’s Saturday at 11am but really it’s Friday at 11am and I get a phone call to go do something. I get to happily inform them that I am in fact in Physics class at school and can not run that errand.
During harvest some farmers are doing more than just combining crops. They are chopping and filling bunkers, silos, or bags. For me, I can not wait until I get to go to college next year, so I make sure not to come home the weekend we cover the pit. It is one of my least favorite things to do. We cover our pits with lime and it takes at least a day or two to get it out of your hair and shoes! Another thing cattle farmers are doing right now is weaning calves and pregnancy checking cows. It’s time to get the calves off the mom and make sure the mom is going to be a mom again. For farmers that calve in the fall, they are super busy as well because it is calving season.
I know first hand that right now it is all hands on deck around the farm and that days can get pretty long. Wednesday is an early out and dad already has me penciled in to bale. We get to add corn stalk baling to the list as well.
A few weeks ago however, I did get my dad out of the combine to escort me across the football field. Homecoming, Part 2 was celebrated at our school Oct. 2nd. We got to dress up for another full week of fun and drove tractors to school on Friday. Of course all of the good ones were in the field, so I had to settle for the loader tractor, which is better than Luke who got the open station. Burr! Be sure to get plenty of rest and enjoy the little things. Have a fun fall!
~ Kesley Holdgrafer
When I get to the parking lot after school, my phone blows up with missed phone calls and text messages of things I need to do once I get home. Fall is when I become very grateful that we have an eight hour school day because that means I get at least an eight hour break from the madness. Some days it is so crazy that farmers forget what day of the week it is. They think it’s Saturday at 11am but really it’s Friday at 11am and I get a phone call to go do something. I get to happily inform them that I am in fact in Physics class at school and can not run that errand.
During harvest some farmers are doing more than just combining crops. They are chopping and filling bunkers, silos, or bags. For me, I can not wait until I get to go to college next year, so I make sure not to come home the weekend we cover the pit. It is one of my least favorite things to do. We cover our pits with lime and it takes at least a day or two to get it out of your hair and shoes! Another thing cattle farmers are doing right now is weaning calves and pregnancy checking cows. It’s time to get the calves off the mom and make sure the mom is going to be a mom again. For farmers that calve in the fall, they are super busy as well because it is calving season.
I know first hand that right now it is all hands on deck around the farm and that days can get pretty long. Wednesday is an early out and dad already has me penciled in to bale. We get to add corn stalk baling to the list as well.
A few weeks ago however, I did get my dad out of the combine to escort me across the football field. Homecoming, Part 2 was celebrated at our school Oct. 2nd. We got to dress up for another full week of fun and drove tractors to school on Friday. Of course all of the good ones were in the field, so I had to settle for the loader tractor, which is better than Luke who got the open station. Burr! Be sure to get plenty of rest and enjoy the little things. Have a fun fall!
~ Kesley Holdgrafer
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