I promised a post about the wheat cutters. Here it is. I don’t know much about it, this is all hear say so if it’s wrong, my apologies.
In the spring the winter wheat is ready to be cut. The cutting crews start down by the Mexican border and work their way north and the weather gets nicer. By June they are in Oklahoma and I have seen them in southern Kansas by the fourth of July.
I have meet the cutting crews in town a few times and from what I gather they are Germans hired to come over and drive the big tractors. Something about being more precise drivers was the reason I was given. They drive the tractors over the fields and down the roads this time of year you’re more likely to hit a backup from them, than a rig move.
The tractors cut and then suck up everything they cut and dump it into a semi-truck that drives it to the nearest small town and empties it into the grain elevator. From there it is shipped out on truck or train depending on the area.
By the end of the summer the crews will have made their way up to and sometimes into Canada. Where the tractors that where new in March are sold. And then next year they start all over again with new tractors.
They came a cut the field behind the rig a few days ago but a different crew came and cut the field right next to the rig yesterday. The fields went from thigh high amber waves of grain to ankle high stocks of straw. Today there is some weed in the field that is green and seems to be growing well. The fields of corn are about knee to waist high and growing strong expected to be eye high by the fourth of July! This is America’s heartland! Yea-hahwww!
