Harvest

Riding my bike early last week, I noticed there were still some soybean and corn crops that hadn’t been harvested.  I noticed the same thing driving my car into Yellow Springs.  The 3 large farms around me had already done their harvesting.  I believe they share harvesters. Several weeks ago, when a lot of harvesting was occurring, while riding my bike, I noticed the 3 farmers talking together in one of the fields being harvested.  I was dying to stop and join in the conversation, but thought my presence wouldn’t be welcomed.  One day I saw the young farmer in the harvester, his father driving the large truck with grain, and his 15 year old helping with a smaller vehicle.  How wonderful to see three generations farming the land.

I really enjoy watching the crops harvested and seeing the amazing equipment they use.  With corn, it is an enormous harvester that has numerous prongs at the front to cut off the corn.  The cornstalk is fed into the harvester and corn comes out through a tube into a smaller container at the back.  Once the container is filled it is emptied into a Mac truck and then driven to the farm to be put in a big silo for drying.  This time of year around crop farms, you hear the sound of the dryers blasting.

Saturday Alan and I were riding our bikes and I saw a field on the next road over (on my bike route) being harvested.  This farmer had a big truck riding next to the harvester and the corn was being blown through a large tube into the truck.  So both truck and harvester were moving right next to each other and drivers really had to pay attention.  It was pretty neat.

I heard on NPR that 80% of American farmers use no till.  The two older farmers near me don’t use no till.  The younger farmer (mid to late 30’s) and a graduate of OSU Agriculture School does us no till.

One of my favorite TV shows used to be Agricountry on Saturday mornings at 6:00 AM.  It ended when Ed Johnson, the host, died several years ago.  Ed focused on the best farming practices and I heard a lot about no till farming.  I’ve had to bite my tongue not to talk with these older farmers about it.  I’m sure they don’t need advice from me a nonfarmer.   But no till farming uses less fuel because the tractor doesn’t go over the land as much, keeps soil and nutrients from washing away, saves time, and allows the farmer to get into the field earlier while it is still wet.

So with the fields harvested, my bike ride becomes more difficult.  In the fall and winter there is a strong south westerly wind that cuts across the open fields, making the ride much harder.    I hope to continue my rides until there is snow or ice on the road.