East coast kids breeze in
Mostly sunny, 90 degrees
Humidity 28%
Dew Point 58 degrees
Wind S @ 23 mph
Forecast: Sunny
1505 miles. 15-minute rain squall. 30-minute dust storm. Lunch in Kansas City. Dinner in Lawrence. 2-shirts left in the Double Tree Inn closet.
3-days on the road and we’re gonna’ make it home tonight.
A road trip promising things to come.
2-months,
2-weeks,
3-days,
8-hours,
23-minutes,
49-seconds
Carolyn & i get to Da’ Farm just after lunch.
Bruce is waiting in the kitchen.
We unload our wagon. Then coffee and conversation.
Bruce and i head to Ness City to pick up the combine. It’s been at BTI (John Deere dealer) getting its annual tune-up. Also getting detailed. Can’t look any newer without shrink-wrap plastic on the seats.
At BTI i get a new cap and see the new header. Black. Four foot wider. Stripper-header. A lot like the Shellbourne but newer. Improved. Black instead of blue. It’ll be here in the morning.
Carolyn & i have a Summer salad dinner. Walk up to Bruce & Joyce’s for an evening swapping news with Bruce and Joyce and Akela (new dog on Da’ Farm).
Tomorrow is shaping up to be a day of preparation and practice. Carolyn playing organ at Zion prepping for Sunday’s service. Bruce and i in the yard prepping equipment. Trucks,
semi & pickup.
Grain-cart tractor & grain-cart.
Maybe….
just maybe….
we’ll be cuttin’ wheat Sunday afternoon.
Water, water, water, Weather, Weather, Weather
Mostly sunny, 93 degrees
Humidity 48%
Dew Point 58 degrees
Wind SSW @ 30 mph
Forecast: Sunny, intermittent clouds
Yeah…..all we talk about is the weather. Well, occasionally fishing.
Or hunting.
But generally, weather.
Whether we’re harvesting or not depends on the weather.
Whether the crops are growing or not depends on the weather. So….weather comes up in daily conversation.
For the last four years there’s been a lack of rain. Two years ago, wheat harvest is two & a half days. Corn harvest, a little over a day. Not unusual for either harvest to last eight, nine, ten days.
2025 there’s been rain.
Good rain.
At the right time.
Except here just before harvest. We’ve had months’ worth of rain in less than two weeks. Now the question is, can we get into a field to cut wheat.
Three weeks ago, Bruce figures we’ll be cutting by June 18th. Maybe 19th. Now….maybe, just maybe we’ll be able to get into the ‘first’ field tomorrow afternoon. June 22nd.
If the weather holds!
A clean machine
Mostly sunny, 92 degrees
Humidity 38%
Dew Point 58 degrees
Wind S @ 28 mph
Forecast: Partly cloudy
The folks at the John Deere dealership do an outstanding job of detail cleaning the combine. Paired with the new Falcon header we’re ready for any parade.
The new 36-foot Falcon stripper header. For several years we’ve been cutting wheat with a Shellbourne stripper header. 32-foot.
I think.
The Falcon is wider. Cuts more wheat in a single pass. A few newer features. And, like all equipment, headers need replacing every now and again.
YouTube ‘cutting wheat’ and you’ll almost certainly see traditional reel headers. Combines with headers that look like long riverboat paddles . New headers are a lot more efficient but i miss the reels flashing in the sun.
Stripper headers just ‘strip’ the wheat berries from the top of the stocks. The wheat stocks are left a lot taller and evenly cut. This technique produces less wheat chaff and stubble. Less broken grain. And the standing stocks help retain moisture. Better for the farmer, better for the environment. A field cut with a stripper header is easy to spot….stripper headers leave wheat fields sporting a 1950s crewcut appearance.
The Falcon header being four foot wider cuts more wheat in the same length of time. Which is a good thing….except for the grain-cart driver.
Less down time.
Not nearly enough down time to set up my beach umbrella on top of the tractor. Or my hammock.
Strung between the tractor and grain-cart.
Cutting wheat!
Sunny, 98 degrees
Humidity 33%
Dew Point 64 degrees
Wind SSW @ 27 mph
Forecast: Mostly sunny
A few weeks ago, Bruce thought we’d be cutting wheat on Saturday. June 21st.
Then the rains.
Well maybe Monday.
Well maybe Tuesday. Well….
we’re cutting wheat. Saturday June 21st. Guess this is why Bruce is acknowledged as one of the best farmers in the county.
Unfortunately for the grain-cart drive there are still some wet parts in the fields and in the roads. Today the best place to park the semi is on the South edge of field one. Hard ground. Easy on/off to the county road. Huge wind break on the south side. The wind is from the South at 25-30 mph.
Has been for days.
The grain-cart driving downside is that fields two and field three are a little further away. Field three is less than a quarter mile away.
As the crow flies.
The grain-cart does not fly.
It’s a half-mile of dirt road from the semi to the combine. And a half mile back. And this is good wheat (lots of berries). And our new header is four foot wider than the our old header (cuts more wheat). All leading to the grain-cart driver booking from combine to semi and back again.
Worth the effort.
We’re cutting more wheat than we have in years!
Amber waves of wheat stubble
Mostly sunny, 92 degrees
Humidity 43%
Dew Point 62 degrees
Wind S @ 25 mph
Forecast: Sunny
Reel headers cut wheat fairly close to the ground. Move the wheat to the center of the header and then into the combine.
Stripper headers have hundreds of ‘teeth’ that strip the wheat berries from the top of the plant. Move the berries and some chaff to the center of the header then into the combine.
Real slick.
The one downside to the stripper header
from a grain-cart driver’s perspective
is how the field looks after cutting. In the ‘old days’ the reel headers cut close enough to the ground that it is easy to tell standing wheat vs cut wheat. This can be very important because a grain-cart driver needs to move around a field.
Often Quickly.
Part of a grain-cart driver’s duty is to get to the combine as soon as the cutter wants to off load the wheat berries (grain) that are in the combine’s grain tank. Cutters like to keep moving. This means the grain-cart needs to get from wherever it is to beside the combine right now. But moving across a field is usually not a simple application of the distance formula…..
d=√(x2−x1)2+(y2−y1)2
There are rules & guidelines to driving across a field. Stringent rules & guidelines.
#1: Do not drive over standing wheat!
Stripper headers strip (pull) the wheat berries off the wheat stock. The height of the wheat plant may not change.
At all.
‘Cut’ wheat is as tall as ‘uncut’ wheat.
There are, however, subtle differences in the overall appearance of cut & uncut wheat.
Uncut wheat heads look lighter in color and fuzzy. All of the parts are still there. Especially the Awns…..AKA ‘beard’.
So cut wheat has a cleaner/sharper look.
And that’s about it.
At least from a city boy’s view in the cab of grain-cart tractor.
A lot of farming is subtle.
Subtle changes of the sky.
Subtle changes of the ground.
Subtle look of crops two inches out of the soil.
A quick poll of family & friends overwhelmingly confirms that subtly is not one of my strong points.
Ah well.
Drive slowly.
Rained out
Mostly cloudy, 78 degrees
Humidity 79%
Dew Point 68 degrees
Wind S @ 10 mph
Forecast: Partly cloudy
Bruce makes an early morning run to the grain elevator to dump yesterday evening’s wheat.
Back to the field.
Start cutting.
I show up and take over grain-cart duties from John. John joins Bruce in the Combine.
There’s rain South of us.
Rain in the air makes cutting stop. Moisture in the air makes cutting slower.
I take advantage of the extra time to get the grain-cart tractor set up for the day. Everyone sets up their work environment to suit their needs. Their style. Regardless of their work.
Office.
Kitchen.
Work bench.
Tractor.
Just as the grain-cart tractor cab is looking its best i notice some erratic cutting. Bruce & John cut for a few minutes.
Stop.
Make some adjustments to the combine.
Moisture affects the wheat. The berries. The straw. The Moose (John Deere S770 combine) provides the cutter with a world of ways to compensate for ever-changing cutting conditions. Bruce & John cut a little more.
Stop.
Make some adjustments
Sitting in the grain-cart tractor i notice an occasional rain drop on the side window. No worries. A light drizzle may affect the cutting but won’t stop harvest.
Bruce & John cut a little more.
Stop.
Make some adjustments.
Motion me to follow the.
Grain-cart drivers often follow the combine. Sometimes to this part of the field. Sometimes that. This time to edge of the field. Where the semi is parked. i top off the semi with wheat in the grain-cart.
The combine shuts down.
The grain-cart shuts down.
Bruce heads to town to in the semi. Last trip to the elevator for this day.
John & i head back to the house.
Harvest is all about the weather.
Today the weather chases us off the field.
Field food
Mostly sunny, 90 degrees
Humidity 58%
Dew Point 49 degrees
Wind S @ 12 mph
Forecast: Partly cloudy
Cutting wheat is, of course, the highlight of wheat harvest….unless….
unless it’s dinner.
There’s a tradition at Trego Center Dairy of feeding the field hands well. Homemade hot meals in the field. Fried chicken. Barbeque ribs. Barbeque pork. Bierocks. Meatloaf. Potatoes of various versions. Salad of various versions. Breads of various versions. Beans. Custards. Cakes. Cobblers. Puddings. Pies….and next week promises to be even more spectacular!
Meanwhile….Back at Da’ Farm
Mostly sunny, 84 degrees
Humidity 58%
Dew Point 56 degrees
Wind S @ 18 mph
Foecast: Partly cloudy
Harvest revolves around….
harvest.
When Trego Center Dairy really was a dairy the rhythm of life revolves around the cows.
Even during harvest.
Now that the cows are a memory the rhythm of the farm fully revolves around harvest.
Which revolves around the weather.
On an average day we wait until the dew on the wheat has dried before cutting. Moisture makes cutting wheat difficult.
More moisture….
more difficulties.
With enough moisture cutting comes to a halt. Hence our prayers for a sunny day with a moderate wind. On a good day cutting usually begins late morning. Days with broken overcast but good wind, maybe early afternoon. The variables pile up. The final decision is to go cut a little and check how the wheat is cutting and the moisture content of the berries.
But this is a working farm.
There’s always work.
Equipment to service. Bins & sheds to clean. Grass & weeds to cut. Trash to haul. Errands to run.
Carolyn takes farm maintenance (non-equipment) as a sacred duty.
We think it may be genetic.
Just can’t figure out where the genes come from.
If not fixing food for family & field hands, she’s practicing organ & piano for Sunday’s service at Zion. To keep any downtime from slipping into goofing off she has rags, buckets, brooms, rakes, shears, a weed-eater or various other implements of repair and destruction in hand.
Whether her type-A cleaning personality is genetic or not it certainly makes Da’ Farm a lot more comfortable and enjoyable for all.
Especially for my type-B goofing off personality.
Growing more than wheat
Mostly sunny, 96 degrees
Humidity 38%
Dew Point 55 degrees
Wind S @ 15 mph
Forecast: Sunny
A lot of wheat grows at Trego Center Dairy. Over the years a whole lot.
Once upon a time i tried to figure out how many wheat berries have been grown at the Farm. In a matter of minutes, the exponential math becomes exponentially beyond my ability. Best i can figure….several bazillion wheat berries.
It’s a lot easier to keep track of the family who’ve grown up with a Trego Center Dairy backdrop in their lives.
The kids who say the Farm is where they were born and raised now have kids of their own.
And those kids have kids.
It’s common knowledge that as we grow older, we have more and more and more things pulling on our lives.
And our time.
Trips to the Farm become increasingly infrequent. But on special occasions the stars align. Occasions like harvest.
And Christmas,
On such occasions. Anyone with free time will congregate at the Farm. Last Saturday we have 18 people at Grandma’s house for dinner. 12 spending the night. Varying numbers for breakfast and lunch.
In the process of playing music, swapping stories, and photos, Joel comes up with a photo. A photo taken at the Farm of four boys of the kids, kids….Clayton Andrew, Joel (holding baby Austin), Jeremy and Eli. A photo from from 30 years ago.
Except for Austin, who is in Nairobi Kenya, the boys are here again.
Obviously, the photo needs retaken.
Harvest Breakdown Tradition
Mostly sunny, 88 degrees
Humidity 48%
Dew Point 48 degrees
Wind SSW @ 15 mph
Forecast: Cloudy
There is a harvest tradition that no amount of preparation seems to prevent.
Equipment malfunction in the field.
The Farm equipment is meticulously maintained. The same day we get to the Farm, Bruce and i go get the Moose (John Deere S770 combine) from BTI. The John Deere dealer in Ness City.
33 miles South.
The combine’s yearly tune up is complete. This year the Moose also has a detailed cleanup.
Looks brand new.
We are also bringing home the new Falcon 36-foot stripper header. The Moose and Falcon combination will lead to some serious wheat cutting. It’s going to be hard for the grain-cart driver to goof off.
Four days in the field and all is right in our part of the world. We have a solid wheat harvest rhythm going. Then late in the afternoon….
gremlins.
For some reason the one side of the Falcon header won’t lower to cut wheat. John, who is in the combine, calls Bruce. Bruce meets us at the corner entrance of the field. They try a double handful of fixes….
that don’t.
Bruce phones the John Deere mechanic on call.
Speed dial #1.
Most folks with regular city jobs have a spouse or significant other as speed-dial #1. Maybe a friend. Maybe a parent. If you’re a farmer with animals maybe speed-dial #1 is probably the vet. If you’re a farmer with big machinery almost certainly speed-dial #1 is your mechanic. And in the 21st Century speed-dial #2 is your implement dealer’s technologist. All modern farm machinery is loaded with computers.
Within an hour the John Deere mechanic is standing by the Moose. He and Bruce ride around a bit. Try several things. Run some computer checks. Find a sensor that needs to be replaced. The mechanic promises to be out first thing in the morning with a new sensor.
He is.
The Moose is up and running by 9am.
With our mandatory harvest breakdown fixed we’re back cutting by 10:30.
Harvest cinnamon rolls
Mostly sunny, 96 degrees
Humidity 38%
Dew Point 55 degrees
Wind S @ 15 mph
Forecast: Sunny
Once upon a time….
Elfriede’s cinnamon rolls.
For years, well before my coming to the Farm, Elfriede makes cinnamon rolls during harvest. Actually, Elfriede’s cinnamon rolls are staple for all occasions. But especially harvest.
Over the years the ‘girls’ pick up the mantle. Carolyn is becoming a very proficient cinnamon roll aficionado. Recently earning the accolade, ‘these are as good as Elfriede’s.’
Tradition….Tradition!
Mostly sunny, 82 degrees
Humidity 48%
Dew Point 55 degrees
Wind SSW @ 10 mph
Forecast: Sunny
As Tevye says, Tradition.
Tradition!
At Trego Center Dairy one lasting tradition is playing cards.
Usually Pinochle.
But we are adaptable. There are several card games often mentioned and occasionally played at the farm. Or when visiting family and friends. Pitch is so common in our part of the American farmland that everyone in the Mai clan has a working/playing knowledge. Aunt Leona’s folks who live in a Montgomery Ward home, several miles West and a couple North, are well known for playing Nerts.
Today it’s Hearts.
Hearts?
The game of choice for the Colorado Paynes. After dinner Bob, who’s known for his big heart, volunteers to be the fourth in a round of two of Hearts even though the last time Bob plays Hearts the Dodgers are still playing in Brooklyn. But cell phones and internet access provide a fighting chance. After all old guys have a natural ability at cards.
The round or two become three, four, five, six…..
The game runs far into the night. Janelle, our current Payne matriarch, finally shoos the kids,
young and old,
off to bed.
Immediately after breakfast the game is resumed.
By 9:30 in the morning the old card-shark is landed, filleted, breaded and fried by the Kids from Colorado.
Farm country problem solving
Mostly sunny, 96 degrees
Humidity 38%
Dew Point 55 degrees
Wind S @ 15 mph
Forecast: Sunny
‘There’s a hole in the yard dear Carrie, dear Carrie…..
Then mend it, dear Brucie, dear Brucie, dear Brucie….’
(With apologies to “Heinrich und Liese” and all our German speaking forbears).
The first indication is that the hot-water pressure suddenly drops.
Carolyn sprints downstairs to check the water heater.
Just as Carolyn hits the to step of the basement stairs Jan says, ‘the Barn’. Then heads out the backdoor to the milk barn….now the Milk House Bar & Grill.
Water heater? OK.
Milk Barn? No water.
It’s OK.
Next call Bruce.
Because of his lifelong knowledge of the Farm he quickly pinpoints the location of the problem….it’s where the yard is damp on a hot July day. And he knows where to look.
The Pit.
The cement lined hole in the backyard where the waterline junctions for Grandma Elfriede’s house are located. All the older kids at the Farm, at least all of the older kids of ‘advancing age’, have been in the Pit.
Some to work on the water lines.
Some playing hide-n-seek.
Some on a dare.
Quick work with the frontend loader frees the waterlines for inspection. John takes over with a shovel and uncovers a junction that’s finally given up. One advantage to early morning problems during wheat harvest is that there are extra people on hand to help.
John begins shoveling PVC lines.
Bruce rounds up supplies.
Carolyn comes out to discuss how the waterline work is leading to indiscriminate intermittent power outages. Some parts of the house have power….some don’t.
Then it changes.
After a moment of confusion, gremlins are suggested along with a promise to investigate as soon as the waterlines are repaired. The waterline repairs are straight forward. Especially for two guys who’ve done a fair amount of country plumbing.
With the water restored, Bruce & John come inside to tackle the electrical issues. Fuses are changed. Electrical theory is discussed.
So is memory.
Bruce & John recall that there are some electrical lines that run near the pit.
A bit deeper.
A bit more East.
Only way to know for sure is go look.
John’s back in the hole. Shovel in hand. Electrical lines are exposed.
A bit deeper.
A bit more East.
Not broken.
A bit of wiggling demonstrates some internal problems. Bruce calls a friend who is an electrician. He stops by on the way to work.
Yep. Internal damage.
Although the frontend loader did not cut any cables it probably applied enough pressure to stress the cables to the point of breaking some of the wires in them. By 9:15 am the cable is spliced, and our local electrician is on his way.
By 9:30 am we’re sitting in the kitchen.
Coffee in hand.
Water is running.
Electricity is flowing.
Not bad early morning farm country problem solving.
And it’s not even time to go cut wheat.
Ride Along
Mostly sunny, 94 degrees
Humidity 29%
Dew Point 65 degrees
Wind S @ 9 mph
Forecast: Sunny
Just about everyone who comes out to the Farm during harvest will spend time riding in the big toys. The combine. The grain-cart tractor. The semi. The Ranger.
Ranger?
OK. The Ranger is not one of the ‘big toys’….but it sure is fun.
Just ask the dogs.
For folks who don’t live on the Farm riding in the equipment, big and small, is an adventure. Certainly, something that doesn’t happen back home.
I’ve been coming to the Farm for 35 years. Began my grain-cart driver apprenticeship 20 years ago. Grain-cart driving in the field is the entry-level ‘big-rig’ job. Most folks progress to the combine. A few also take on the semi.
I stay in the grain-cart.
Can’t be pried from it.
The grain-cart has the right level of challenge and the right level of accomplishment for this big-city-boy.
Almost everyone who ventures out to the field rides in the grain-cart tractor.
For a while.
At least long enough to catch up with the combine. The combine is, after all, the business end of farming.
Crops becoming commodity.
The combine is also a lot more fun as a rider. Bigger seats. Better view. Floor to ceiling wrap around windows. Of course, the view of ‘cutting wheat’ is not quite as dramatic as in the ‘old days’ with a reel header.
Riding behind a reel header you watch the wheat get cut. Travel along to the center of the header then get sucked into the combine. Stripper headers have all the magic enclosed. Even so, riding in the combine is the ‘big draw’.
Some will hop a ride to town in the semi. Get a view of cars and pickups from above. A real feeling of magnificence. At least until you get to the elevator and look up at a three-story pile of wheat.
But in the field the grain-cart driver has a solitary lifestyle. More time for meditation. Photography. Writing. Listening to rock and roll.
Suits some city-boys.
The Trego Center Dairy Garage Band
Mostly sunny, 89 degrees
Humidity 33%
Dew Point 59 degrees
Wind SSW @ 7 mph
Forecast: Sunny
Around the Farm the music comes and goes and
comes and goes and
rolls and flows and flows over
the fields of the Farm
There’s always some music going on at the Farm.
If Carolyn is here, she is certainly playing organ and piano in the house and at church.
Zion.
She plays at Zion when she’s here. Gives the regulars a break. Unlike a big city church there’s just not a lot of depth in a country church organist roster. Sometimes other ‘Farm-House’ musicians will join.
Music in the ‘new room’ at Grandma Elfriede’s house slides between Broadway tunes, folk songs, Bob Dylan, Eagles, Beatles and hard-core rock and roll. Our musical genres change depending which kids/grandkids/friends are visiting. This year Reeve, nephew Joel’s son, brought his bass. Teamed up with Carolyn and showed me how bass is supposed to be played.
The ‘new room’ has a piano and organ. Been part of the new room for years. Guitars, amplifies, brasses, wind instruments come and go.
Once upon a time, long , long ago….
long before
Elfriede and Albert’s kids have kids or grandkids, the ‘new room’ begins life as an ‘attached garage’. Four kids later it becomes apparent that more living space and a larger free-standing double garage is a better use the land. The ‘attached garage’ becomes a family room.
A music room.
This transformation means that we all proudly say we’re part of
The Trego Center Dairy Garage Band.
tregocenterdairy 