Kansas Wheat Harvest 2011

While riding around with a couple of cameras in my car, and, with no particular direction in mind, I saw some wheat being cut. Very shortly after I pulled into the field Mike's daughter pulled in with her son so I asked if I could ride along in the combine to do some video. She called him as he was making the rounds in the combine and my request was granted immediately. Numerous members of the Waymaster family of Bunker Hill, KS, were present and included Mike who was in the combine and Lance who was driving the truck. Late in the day I returned to do some more video. Their fields looked good, but, unfortunately, much of the state is very dry and fields were not nearly as good for many people.

Those who have participated in wheat harvest in any way will probably find these images evoke many memories of previous wheat harvests. I've lived in Kansas all my life and my experience in wheat harvest is limited to being in the field when I was around five years old while my father helped with harvest. I remember being lifted up into the back of a loaded grain truck and watching from there while chewing on wheat in the truck that had just been harvested, and, many years later, driving a truck to and from the elevator taking loads of wheat to it. I've watched harvest many times, though, and I've heard many stories from those who do it year-after-year. It's a special time....

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Kansas;
• wheat
• harvest;
• Kansas
• combine;
• custom
• cutters;
• wheat;

[PineValleyDigital]

Great camera work on your part. Excellent driving on the combine and tractor drivers part. Thanks for sharing

BTW, my grandfather was from Peru, Kansas

[Offbeat77]

@PineValleyDigital Thanks for the comment! I didn't know I'd be doing video of harvest that day and just saw them while driving around with a couple of cameras. I wish I'd had time to show more of what's involved in harvest like you did in your clip which was very good. I was close to your area in June, 2010, and I was very close to Peru a few days ago. I'll be looking at more of your video......

[Offbeat77]

You're welcome, and thank you!

[Offbeat77]

Thank you! Parsons is down in the far southeast corner of the State. One of the sites I checked indicated it's 276 miles from Bunker Hill. Lawrence is almost straight east and the site shows it's 196 miles between the two points. There is a large "wheat belt" that runs through the center of the USA from Texas up into Canada. The cutting in Texas started some time ago. Harvest crews start there and move north. I'll have to do a little research on wheat growing in Sweden. Thanks again!

[jggrow]

@larryjosanchez I get your point. I did the work and enjoyed it when I was a kid. But I moved on. So, how many acres do you have under cultivation now, and how has the big drought affected you?

[larryjosanchez]

@jggrow well that's the difference between a farmer and farm hand!!!! i was born and raised on the family farm in new mexico, and i been gone from there a few years, and there's not one day that passes that i don't think and miss all the hard work. even the smells of the equipment,

[zilla2006able]

nice video

[jggrow]

Nice video. I drove a truck beside a harvestor one summer for about a week almost 50 years ago. Equipment was a lot smaller then, that's for sure. I was born in Kansas, and I've lived a lot of places since I left there after highschool, and I gotta tell you, I have never missed it once.

[SCHRATERUSMC]

You really took me back to my childhood with that video. Thanks for sharing, and great job on the editing!!

[bempa15]

Here in Sweden we not harvesting wheat until august! We have realtives in Parsons and Lawrence. Is Bunker hill close to those towns? Very nice video!