Megan Klinnert – Klinnert Harvesting
Another state, Kansas, marked off the wheat harvest list. This past month has flown by and we have hopped around to four different towns. After we finished in Okarche, Oklahoma (home) we went to Pratt, Kansas. They are putting in those large wind turbines in that area and all the campgrounds were full. We had nowhere to park our trailer. We found ourselves sleeping in a quaint little hotel in Pratt.
We had good cutting weather and were able to get in and out of there pretty quickly. The farm average was right at 38 bushels per acre. Our next stop was supposed to be Scott City, however, most of you probably heard of the 8+ inches of rain they received in a couple of days. Needless to say, we had some time before we needed to pull combines there. We went up to Hunter to longtime friend, Roger Nitsch, to cut his own personal wheat.
Roger has known Randall’s family for over 30 years. Roger began his own custom harvest operation back in 1969 and was inducted into the U.S. Custom Harvesters’ Hall of Fame in 2016. His combines were busy doing custom work around Hunter and he wanted his own grain out of the field. We had time on our hands so we went up and helped a friend out. While the guys were in the field, I stayed at Roger and Nancy’s house with the kids. It was so nice to be in a home after living out of a hotel in Pratt. Nancy was so gracious and passed on a copy of her family cookbook to me so that I can use some of her tried and true field meals. I doubt they will taste as good as hers, but here’s to trying!
While we travel from town to town I like to try to learn something new. I might as well take advantage of our traveling and be a full-time tourist, minus the floral shirt and fanny pack. Once you get into parts of Kansas you will notice limestone fence posts. You can’t fault them for utilizing their given resources but can you imagine building fence?! Roger told us that his grandpa would go out to the flat limestone slabs in the pastures during winter and would drill holes and fill them with water. The water would freeze and split the limestone and they would then use it for building and fencing supplies.
It got hot and windy and Scott City finally dried out enough to cut. Driving to our farmer’s yard it was easy to spot the devastation that the early summer storms had caused to the surrounding area. Fields either had wheat flat on the ground or still had mudholes of stagnant standing water sprinkled throughout them. We cut less than half the acres that our farmer had initially planted. There was 70-bushel wheat before the hail and we ended up cutting 40-bushel wheat as the farm average. All the stagnant water made it a mosquito’s paradise! I think those suckers could have lifted the kids up and carried them away they were so big!
Our last stop in Kansas was right on the Colorado/Kansas border in between Cheyenne Wells and Sharon Springs. This was a new stop for us and it couldn’t have happened at a better time with our stop in Scott City being cut so short. We partnered up with some friends of ours from our hometown to take on this bigger job.
The guys were able to cut late each night. We did have a little shower the evening of the 4th that got them out of the field early. I don’t think the guys minded too much since there were steaks waiting for them on the grill. We set off a few fireworks that evening and enjoyed ourselves.
The next morning, I got a phone call that I expected to get this summer but it sure didn’t make it any easier, my grandma wasn’t doing very well and I needed to come home. The kids and I made the 8-hour trip back to Kingfisher County to celebrate the life of one of the strongest women I know. Her life was cut short by cancer but I promise you that she gave that son of a biscuit a run for it’s money.
We have been home a week now and have been soaking up time with family and checking on the cattle. We are heading back to Colorado this weekend. The guys have since finished in the Cheyenne Wells/Sharon Springs area and the farm average finished out right at 50 bushels per acre. They are now in Flagler, CO cutting there and the kids and I are eager to get back up there with them. I’ll pack us some warmer clothes this go around because after Flagler, we are Montana bound!
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.
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