I wanted to get some harvest footage this year and spoke to a farmer in a wheat truck waiting to unload at the elevator in Meade. I asked if he would mind if I took some video of their harvest, and in true Kansas farmer hospitality he replied "we're about to eat supper, why don't you come join us".
I'd just met Jerome Wiens and followed him back to the field where they were cutting with two machines. It was about 6:20pm and they stopped for supper in the field. Classic American Gothic - three generations of a farm family sitting in lawn chairs, supper laid out on the tailgate of a pickup, and hospitality to spare.
After supper, we took some footage of the harvest operation. Their combines aren't new and flashy, but they probably don't lay awake at night thinking about how fast the interest on $300,000.00 per combine accrues. They operate at a steady pace and do a nice job of getting the crop out. Jerome told me at this point they were about half way through harvesting the 1400 acres of wheat he planted last fall. He said the moisture content was about 9% (very low) and the test weight per bushel was 63 pounds or better, which is very good. He said his yields per acre had also been very good this year.
What a nice family. Reminds me of back when I was on the farm. Thanks Wiens family for your hospitality!
I originally shot this video in 1080p, but it was too large for KZfaq, so I had to change the output to 720p, so the quality is not as sharp as the 1080 version.
Music credit Kevin MacLeod at www.imcompetech.com