KANSAS WHEAT HARVEST 2010

Pretty Kansas girl operates her

Dad's combine.

These combines take a 30 foot swath.

Straw chopper in the back chops the straw in small

pieces. The chopped straw helps build up the soil.

One of three combines used to cut this field.

Unloading wheat from the combine to the truck

that will haul it to the elevator.

One of the smaller semi trucks that are used today.
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Things have changed since I was a kid 70 years ago. A good day in the harvest field then would be harvesting 20 acres a day. These machines can harvest 20 acres an hour. The operator then was in the open with the temperature running from 90 to over 100 degrees. The dust would get in your eyes and plug up your nose. Now a cab with air conditioning, stereo radio, CD players and a nice seat make harvesting much more enjoyable.

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For me harvest is a good time of the year to see your green wheat fields turn to a golden color with it's heads turned towards the ground as if it is submitting to be harvested, to give up it's grain which brings to mind the great harvest when mankind yields to the Great Harvester. The farmer is anxious to save every kernel. He doesn't want to lose one kernel, he wants to get it in a safe place from the bad weather or any thing that would destroy it.

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One thing that I dislike is marketing the grain. We are at the mercy of the buyers. We don't get to price it, we have to take what they offer us.

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Jesus taught several things pertaining to the harvest.

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"He (Jesus) also said, 'This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come'."
Mk.4:26-29 NIV
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"Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field'." Mt. 9:37-38 NIV

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"Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please the sinful nature, from that nature, will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Gal. 6:7-9 NIV
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Hoesli Brothers Polands

Our boys were in 4-H and they were in the hog project raising pure bred Poland Chinas. They were doing good. They had won first place at many shows in central Kansas. It was hard work but when fair time came around it was fun to watch the boys show their pigs.

The competition was rough at our county fair because our neighbor was an expert in showing hogs and very good in selecting the right one that the judge was looking for. He would show and help the boys get their pigs ready to show. He had a son and daughter that would be showing their pigs also. So if you would get grand champion you had a good pig.

There was a frail, elderly man from over 100 miles from us that would show up at almost all of the pig shows because he loved to show his pigs. He would stay at the fair grounds and ate pig feed. He was a good old guy and the kids liked him.

The boys bought their first Poland China gilts from Paul Davidson. They liked the looks of the Polands and there weren't as many of them as Durocs, Hampshires and Chester Whites. They bought their first boar from Ron Holling. You've heard the saying "worthless as teats on a boar". We found out that the teats on a boar are very important because the more teats the boar has the more his pigs will have. The boys had a Landrace sow that had 22 or 23 pigs. She had a big enough dinner table for all of them.

One time we went to a pig sale in Oklahoma. It was near one of Darlene's cousins so we took the whole family and stayed with them. We had a two wheeled trailer so we made stocks racks for it and pulled it with our car. We probably looked like some hillbillys but it was a good time in our life.

The boys ended up with a boot box full of mostly purple and blue ribbons. We ordered ball point pens with 'Hoesli Brothers Poland Chinas' on them which they would give away at pig shows.