AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN

 

ANY MAN WHO THINKS HE CAN BE HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS BY LETTING THE GOVERNMENT TAKE CARE OF HIM, BETTER TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE AMERICAN INDIAN

 

Henry Ford

 

 

     I heard today that the house started working on the Agriculture Bill today.  The thought stays in my mind that this is so appropriate since the combines have started to roll here in Barber County.  It is a time of collective madness.  Be forewarned that if you are taking a leisurely drive in the country that you need to watch out for teenage truck drivers, speeding semi's, slow 12 foot wide machines, that will scare you to death if you do not pay attention.  This is HARVEST.

     Farmers that normally talk slow and linger over coffee are now speed demons and impatient to get the crops in the elevator.  Especially this year after sweating drought, late freezes, plants diseases, and bugs bound to eat what is left.  Also the hot sun showing up on cue to shrivel the stressed crop.

     It has been years since I ran a combine or drove an old truck to the elevator.  I am sure that there are teenagers looking up above while dumping wondering what that contraption is up there.  The truck lift.  I have the distinction of being the last driver of the last pickup load of wheat dumped with the truck lift in the Anness Elevator (on the west side) you have to be local to know about that.

     Today the larger farm size has pretty much retired the antiques that used to be pulled out once a year, dusted off, pickup tag wired on, and kid sent to the elevator with a load.  I have driven up on these old rigs at night without a tail light at all working or even on them.  The big diesels and semi rigs now are common on the farms.

     When the pay day comes but once a year and there has been most hope lost of a crop (grandpa always said you had to kill wheat 3 times before putting it in the bin).  Well this year it is about 5 times and it is not a very hopeful crowd, but it is even more precious to get in now.

     A little bit of my gram pa's blood always boils up this time of year and I get the urge to buy a combine.  But all I have to do is look at the price tag and I get over it.  I still wish I had made the run once from Texas to Canada.  I still wave at those hardy souls making the trip down the highway and wish I was going along.  But time and health stops many adventures.

     As the parties fight over an AG Bill that is mostly a food stamp bill, (aged myself on that one, I still remember commodities) I wish that those people up there would come down and put some personal sweat and risk into AG.  At least the would learn something about getting things done and honesty.

     I will be heading out with the camera and get some shots of those Amber Waves of Grain.  I still thrill to a line of combines following each other through the fields.  I guess the new machines are really something and I hear that there are some models that the operator does nothing but watch.  It is guided by satellite and is hands off.  Well if it works as good as the GPS does that says our B&B is in an open intersection 2 miles away that operator better not sleep.