My earliest memory of wheat harvest was riding in the bin of the old Gleaner combine that was pulled around the field by our old “Minnie” tractor with my mother driving. It took two adults to operate that combine. Daddy would sit on the “step” to raise and lower the header to the right height to eliminate creating a lot of straw. ( At least I think that was the reason)… We kids had to go along because in those days, there wasn’t such a thing as a babysitter. The family did everything together… even the work. We rode in the bin atop that old combine until it was full and ready to dump into the truck. We would have to climb down while this was happening, so we wouldn’t get sucked out through the auger. Can you imagine letting your kids do this in these days? Social Services would probably come and get us!!
We had an old Chevy farm truck that doubled as a grain truck and cattle hauling truck. When not hauling cows, the “stock racks” that were hinged to fold down against the sides of the box were handy to use as a “ladder” to climb in the back of the truck. We rode back there –us three older girls and my brother – standing up and letting the wind blow in our faces.
Back to harvest: It was always near the Fourth of July and we would watch the western sky hoping not to see clouds. There was only a few days’ window to get the job done and the dread of wind, rain and hail was always on our minds. Nowadays, the wheat doesn’t grow as tall as it used to (or is it because I was shorter?)… I think the wheat must be hybrid to be shorter so it doesn’t tend to lie down in the wind or rain.
We were always upset when harvest happened on the Fourth of July because that meant we might not get to go to Wray to the fireworks. They always had the BEST fireworks show.
The other day when I heard the price of wheat, it made me ill!! How in the world can farmers make it when the price of wheat is the same as it was 50 years ago??? If this happened to any other industry, “they” would not put up with it. Bread has gone up 100s of times its 1950 price, but the farmer is not the one getting the profit. There are way too many middle men between the field and the toaster!!
-- Editor
No comments:
Post a Comment
Write your comment, then add your name by clicking on "Name/URL" and entering your name.
You can add the URL address of your website if you wish, or it can be left blank.
Verify that you are a real person (instead of an automatic spammer) by entering the word verification characters.
Then Preview your comments, if you wish.
Click on "Publish your Comment" to submit it.