The Sweetgrass Hills in northern Montana make a perfect backdrop to a grain harvest. The skies are beautiful blue and clouds that layer the sky. This setting is about 90 miles east of Glacier Park. The Canadian border lines the northern part of the hills. The Sweetgrass Hills;West, Middle (Gold) and East Butte are a cluster of volcanic outcroppings.
The "green", John Deere cuts the wheat. On this particular farm, only the green, nothing runs like a deere. The combine has two seats, one for the driver and one for a guest that may ride.
This harvest is being cut and binned. Wheat from the combine is taken to the bins by trucks and unloaded, augered directly into the bins. Dryers are going on the bins to dry the grain, just in case it is not completely dry. Dry wheat can be stored for years.
No stops during harvest, lunch is packed and supper is served in the field. By the end of the day, the food truck that appears in the field is a most d
esired sight. Most days start fueling and checking the equipment at 6am with the day ending around midnight. The days are hot and dry and little dew in the morning and evening keep the combine moving down the fields. It is a long 2-3 week period time getting the crops cuts. Rain, hail and wind is a farmer's NOT list. Hot and dry is the perfect weather for getting in the crop.
Having grown up on a farm, harvest was the completion to the year. All the hard work of planting and fertilizing make this the reward.
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