Tonight, in the dark,

under a cloudy sky with chilly breeze blowing across the prarie we finished the harvest of 2011. We finished right here at home where my family has grown every crop since 1894. It came to a end with very little excitement just sort of a collective sigh as rain is forceast for the next couple days. Its early yet and harvest for most will continue on for a couple weeks at least. It is just a nice feeling to know that we can move on to other projects that have been waiting for us. It has been a nice fall and we are grateful to have had a nice crop when so many others didnt. Most of the fertilizer is spread and our fall tillage is well under way. After cleaning things up and putting them away our cow herd will become the focus of our efforts. Tonight with everything put away nick and I stood in one of the sheds and reflected on harvest and most importantly, talked about where would go tomorrow to eat a nice long relaxing lunch. After a month of eating luches on the go and working to the wee hours of the morning I dont expect we will be all that productive tomorrow, nor do I reckon anyone will care!
It feels good to be done.
bill

What a nice statement of a fine time of year and a good feeling!! Bravo!

The world should be so lucky as to have even 20% of the people feel as you do at the end of a season of work. Thanks for the feeling of peace that your sentences brought me. Jim

I can remember the olden times when Harvest was done the local church women of the area would set up a Threshermens supper all the local farmers and their family s would for a slight charge get a very big meal with all the trimmings and homemade desert.

The fellowship was different than today.

Miss the old w9ood burnin in the spring too as neighbors would get to go to ones house for a weenie roast as some burned old brush and maybe some boards off an old building.

I quit farming in 1996, Dairy Farm. I only did hay.the last ten years by my self after Dad passed away. After each cutting I was not worth a darn for about 3 days.

Bless you. And thank you.

Good to hear. I bet Wrigley breathed a sigh of relief too!

Hey bill, feeling a sense of accomplishment is a pleasant emotion after honest and productive work, even with the fatigue that may be present. Enjoy what breaktime you can before moving on to other tasks. Really great that your farm roots go back to 1894 on that land!

I was doing some prep for winter at the old family place yesterday and got to thinking that the neighbors must be way behind chopping their corn because the trucks were running about 1 1/2 minutes apart so they could not be running far. When I stopped for lunch I tracked down where they were and it wasn't far, but I saw that they were running two six row choppers filling their 20 trucks. They had run nearly full circle of their Connecticut river corn land and were back near town. Then I went by my cousins place and they were just finishing putting new gathering chains on the three row. He said that he was about half done. Just then the neighbors trucks started going by along with their whopper choppers to go to a farm about five miles up from him. They were still running after dark so they may have finished yesterday. If not probably today before the rain comes in in the PM. I helped my cousin pull the head off and drag it into the shop because after the new chains were on it turned out that the drive shaft for the chains was broken. At least he will be out of the rain to work on it.

I just started picking corn yesterday,now the forcast is for up to 3 inches of rain over the next 36 hours. Lovely.

Being my first years at farming and not having a lot of crops I do know the feeling a little. I got my last stuff done on Sunday! Got the last of the hay hauled home! Felt pretty good for 2 reasons. one was just being done and nothing hanging over my head, the 2nd was I did it all on my own with just my equipment! Thought I was going to have to borrow a wagon but picked up a trailer at auction last week.

Rick

(quoted from post at 11:02:38 10/19/11) Bless you. And thank you.

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Bill

Well put and yes their are people out here that still cares, as Jim said if more people felt that way the world would be a better place. God Bless you and the farmers and helpers that are going through this time of year, that is demanding and stressful till harvest is complete.

Nicely said Bill.

I'm always amazed at how quietly the harvest ends every year, after weeks of going like there's no tomorrow, suddenly the last rows are going in the head and then the last combine tank is unloaded.

Seems like there should be fireworks or something.

Thanks for the post, you put into words something alot of us have felt many times.

Tim

Guess you are going to need a BIG Umbrella...!!!

Sorry to hear that..same forecast here in central, Ohio..
Sure glad the Beans are done...

Ron..

A friend I helped with wheat harvest in '95 said it used to be a custom to throw your straw hat in front of the combine and run it through, just as you were finishing.

But I agree- most are so relieved that its done, they don't have the energy for much of a celebration. Glad it went well for you, especially after last year!