In late August we were able to combine the last of our organic wheat — it was very slow going. With a little more rain it would have been a nice crop.
The evening of August 31 we got a crazy rainstorm. John and Gregory were swathing in two different fields when Gregory called me to come pick him up because he had broken down and needed parts from home.
The black clouds started rolling in quickly when we got to the yard. I headed out to pick John up while Gregory moved things around in the yard, getting ready for the rain. I found John sitting on the open tractor parked behind a group of trees in preparation for the storm. He got down from the tractor and had just closed the door of the truck when all of a sudden the rain started and we could no longer see out of the windows. Talk about good timing! That field got more than an inch of rain while at home we got less than half an inch.
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September 3, Gregory and I took our horses out for a nice ride and to check our cows and pastures. We knew that some of our registered Herefords were close to calving but we got quite the surprise when we got there.
We were fully expecting two fresh little red white faces but instead we found three. Then as we rode through the herd, we noticed a cow off by herself a bit, so we rode over to check her and found that she had her calf hiding in the deep grass. Four out of six of our registered Herefords had new calves! That particular pasture had gotten more than an inch of rain from the storm a few days before. Due to the surprise of all the new calves we started jokingly calling the crazy rainstorm, “The baby shower.”
Both combines running
About a week later, John started combining the home wheat while Gregory got my combine out of the shed and serviced. The next day we had both combines out in the field. We had some very good weather and so were able to keep the two combines going every day.
We serviced and did maintenance in the morning and then headed out as soon as the grain was dry, working into the evening until we couldn’t see well enough to do a good job. The dust is so bad this year that as soon as the sun goes down it is practically impossible to see the swath. The crop is quite short in places and so we were having to be very low to pick it up and very watchful for rocks.
In mid-September we took the boys out with us to check the cows and pastures and have a fun family day. We found that we were all done with our fall calving. The last of the six Herefords was proudly showing off her new little heifer.
September 18 we were back to combining. Our good friend Bill generously gave us his time for the day and so we were able to have three combines in the field. Gregory got the JD 7720 out of the shed that we affectionately call “Mighty Mouse” and I enjoyed running my old friend again.
Everyday we are getting closer to the end of harvest. After harvest we will take our calves to the sale, make more slough bales, and try to get the summer fallow all done again. We also have a few fencing projects, but we will have to see how long our good weather lasts.
