Megan Klinnert – Klinnert Harvesting
OOOOk-lahoma, where the wind came sweepin’ down the plain! Literally!
Our harvest run in our hometown can be summed up with these three words: hot, dry and windy! But we can’t complain because it made for perfect cutting weather! We took a sample on May 29th that went 14.9% moisture and it seemed like the wind then set it and never stopped so by the next day we were rocking and rolling.
Cutting at home, for us, is always much different than the rest of our harvest run. At home, we cut with some friends and we usually have 4-5 machines going in a field at once. We also have lots of family around to help with the kids and I get to cook out of a full-sized kitchen. It’s like a trial run for the rest of the season. We aren’t full-blown “harvest mode” and living in the camper and it allows the guys to work through any kinks, together with lots of help from friends and neighbors.
I also get the luxury of not having to cook meals every night when we are home. There are a few of us women that split up the responsibilities of cooking for the crew. It makes it so nice to be able to catch up on other things those days and not have to worry about what’s for supper.
The wheat, itself, was great this year! It averaged in the 40-50 bushel per acre range and consistently had test weights of 63 pounds plus! I think all of our farmers were pleased with their yields, especially at a time when the price of wheat is so low.
Not once did we have a drop of rain, so it went very quick! This turned out so nice for us. Usually we are finishing in Okarche and the guys are loading equipment at midnight to hurry up and leave for Kansas the next morning. This year, we had a few days in between and were able to take care of some stuff before heading north.
The guys have been in Kansas since Sunday. The kids and I are always a few days behind as I’m always tying up loose ends like bills, laundry and settling up with our farmers before we leave. We made it up on Tuesday which also ended up being the day the guys were able to start cutting. So far, so good up here. It seems to be just as hot, dry and windy in Kansas as it was in Oklahoma.
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.