Blink and You'll Miss It!

That's the way I felt about Wheat Harvest 2012!  Just as this photo shows only a few heads of wheat lining the edge of a cropped field, I found when I arrived at my family's farm on June 6th that only a few acres of wheat remained to be harvested. 

I tried to be there on time!  Because I had missed the first two days of last year's harvest, I purposely scheduled my airline reservations a week ahead of my previous year's arrival at McClure Farms, Inc., our family's farm near Stafford, Kansas. 

I even got up at the crack of dawn to help.

Yet, Mother Nature fooled me once again!  Our mild winter ripened an unprecedentedly early crop, so early that my 81-year-old father began to harvest wheat on May 26th, 2012.  Yes, a May wheat harvest!  Unbelievable! 
 

Willard McClure, my dad

In all his years of farming, my dad had NEVER before pulled his combine into a wheatfield in May, but when the wheat is ripe, Dad doesn't stop to worry about precedent.  He just gets the job done.

Jon and Derek McClure prepare a bulk bag of soybeans before forklifting it
 into the old Dodge truck.  More about soybean double-cropping later.

So does my younger brother Jon who has assumed the reins of our family farm, McClure Farms, Inc. in Stafford, Kansas.  Jon delegated jobs, trained recruits, and planted soybeans in several newly harvested fields.

Stafford, Kansas is shown on the horizon.

With help from Dustin and Derek, Jon's two teenage sons, the wheat was conveyed from the field...

Even though he is out of this picture, Dustin was the grain cart operator du jour.

to the grain cart...

Derek wheels the grain cart in this photo.

to the semi...

Jon!  Surely the farm could afford a new pair of jeans for you!

to the pit...

The Pit

to the grain bins...

McClure Farms' grain bins at daybreak

and even vacumned up spills...

Thanks, Dustin, for vacumning!

when the duct tape...

The last two rolls of duct tape to be found in Stafford, KS.

failed to keep the grain cart's auger secure. 

Jon shows Derek how to tape the grain cart's auger shut. 

My other brother Doug arrived from Colorado Springs to also help with harvest. 

Doug McClure

Following the path the combine had left a day or two earlier, Doug climbed on the strip till, ripping furrows into the wheat stubble so a second crop of soybeans could be planted for fall harvest, a process called "double-cropping."  By seeding the soybeans amidst the wheat stubble, moisture is better retained by the droughtstricken soil and the possibility of erosion by wind, a very real concern for Kansas farmers who recall the 1930s Dust Bowl days, is lessened.

Miles McClure piloted the semi.

Flying in from California, Doug's oldest son, Miles, and his wife Teresa also joined the family for harvest.  Miles drove the semi while Teresa baked cookies and fixed meals for the crew. 

Don't let these somber faces at suppertime fool you!

Everyone loved Teresa's cooking!

Everyone! 
Even Duke camped out on the back stoop, hoping for scraps!

Somehow I failed to snap a photo of Teresa during this visit.  Could it be that subconsciously I was attempting to save my Head Harvest Cook job by neglecting to record my contender's presence photographically?  Ha!  The truth of the matter was that the two of us were kept so busy in the kitchen, trying to feed this crew in addition to mixing meatloaves, meatballs and cookie dough to stock up mom's freezer for the future, that neither of us had gunk-free hands to handle a camera.

Phyllis McClure, my mom

Teresa's help freed my mom to focus on the bookkeeping necessary for our farming operation to run smoothly.

And my job?  Well, not only is my position in peril due to my extreme tardiness, but this year's popular demand for my niece Teresa's cooking might topple me out of my Head Harvest Cook spot! 

McClure Farms' brand-new combine

Hmmm...maybe I could apply to drive the combine next year!