Harvest Progress!!!

I am glad to say the blog hasn’t been updated in a couple weeks because we have been too busy harvesting. This has certainly been an interesting harvest so far.

Beans are completed and corn is now 80% done. We would be done if the elevators were able to stay open more than a few hours a day, but they are simply getting overwhelmed with wet corn. We have received over 4” of rain in the last 3 days, so I don’t expect to be back in the field before Thanksgiving. Hopefully this will give the grain elevators time to catch up on drying and be ready when harvest resumes. We could be done in two to three full days.

The most recent complication is the propane shortage. So much propane has been used to dry corn in the Midwest that there is now a shortage and the suppliers can’t get the product. We are down to 10% in the home tank, some elevators have actually not opened on some days because they don’t have the propane to dry the corn.

I have learned some really good lessons this year which I will detail more over the winter. First real dealings with paid employees, first wet harvest, stuck trucks, etc.

Despite all the challenges and frustrations I am finding more and more farming is a lot like running a marathon.
1) More preparation than actual event
2) During the hard parts you really question what you are doing and is it worth it
3) After it is done (or almost done in this case) you feel rewarded and can't wait to do it again.