Megan Klinnert – Klinnert Harvesting
This past week has been full of little reminders that wheat harvest is fast approaching. The first, of which, was my dad and brother putting up wheat silage for their dairy. I mentioned in my introductory post that I grew up on a dairy. Well, that said dairy is still in operation. My dad is a third generation dairyman and my brother, who bought in four years ago, is now the fourth generation. They milk 175 head of Holstein cows and farm 500 acres of wheat and hay. My dad and brother were able to have 215 acres chopped to make 1,400 ton of wheat silage. This will, hopefully, supply ten months of feed for their milk cows.
The second little reminder has been seeing windrows out in the fields. Swathers have been making their passes through the fields and will soon be followed by balers. Hay season is kicking off here and farmers are trying to salvage what they can in the fields. Due to the drought and a late freeze, many wheat farmers have turned their acres in to be accessed by their insurance adjusters. Rumor is the predicted yields have been 7-10 bushel per acre on these fields.
Another little reminder is that we are beginning to go through our combines and take care of any pre-harvest maintenance. The hope is the more we can do now will lead to less down time once we start cutting wheat, as we all know time is precious then. I find myself keeping a nearly two-year-old from playing in the oil while bringing whatever tool the guys need from the service truck.
So, with all of this, I know that things are about to get pretty busy around here and I will start my duties as parts chaser, crew cook or whatever “hat” I need to put on that day. Until then, I’m going to soak up just cooking for three instead of ten, sleeping in my own bed and doing laundry in my home.
Megan grew up on a dairy in Okarche so the thought of traveling to more states in their first couple of years of life than she did in her childhood makes her chuckle.
Megan’s roles on her crew include mom first, cook, maid, parts chaser, Secretary and equipment mover. All of this while also tending to things at their stationary home and working part time for a local construction company.