Harvest in Nebraska - What it Looks Like in Pictures!

Hi Kathy Streib   Well...I think I know who has a ton of followers!!  Thanks for sharing with your gang.  I should have probably done a little better job on the naration!!

Hi Gary L. Waters, Broker Owner, Waters Realty of Brevard, LLC   This farmer is actually about middle of the pack in size for our area.  Yes...there are some large farms but there are way more smaller farms...and fresh produce farms are really multiplying.

Hi Raymond E. Camp I have driven through the countryside in rural New York and the New England states.  We do have a lot of smaller fields and in central Nebraska those tend to have grass or Alfalfa grown on them.  I still see a few 4 row heads out here but no 3-row. I hope ou had a great harvest!!

Hi Wayne Martin   Thanks for stopping by.  My wife and I need to get back down there to Sarasota... that is where I asked her to marry me back in 1986... about 100 yards out in the Gulf on the Beach across the road from the Holiday Inn...with an old Igloo cooler half full of ice, 2 glasses and a bottle of wine...still one of the greatest memories of my life!!

Hi Kat Palmiotti   There are some steps I left out.  I will work on a blog that shares the steps from start to finish.  It will have a lot of steps.  For instance...the crop is out...now it is time to order seed, fertilizer, etc. for next crop season!!

Hi Roger D. Mucci   A lot of planning and coordination goes into the whole process. I only touched on a small part of it.  I hope you learned something new.  I encourage everyone to get out into the country during harvest...just be careful at the intersections when the crop is up!!

Hi Nina Hollander  I have heard many people who grew up in the metros...even Omaha or Des Moines, IA say the same thing.  There is an effort going on now throughout many midwest communities to do a better job of sharing the experience and process with folks who are not well versed on row crop farming similar to what we do here.

Hi Sheila Anderson If you ever need to use a photo of farming, please feel free to grab one from my past blogs or send me a shout and I can get one for you. I probably have close to 10,000 photos of various things on farms that I have taken....or rivers...or roads...etc

Hi Kristin Johnston, Waukesha Realtor 414-254-6647   This is probably old stuff to a Wisconsin gal as there are a ton of farms in your neck of the woods!!  Thank you for stopping by!!

HI Judith Sinnard  It is best to not let corn lay on the ground but it is the lessor of the evils. Beans are more susceptible to moisture being pulled up from the ground and will absorb the moisture easily and then spoil faster than corn.  (Think beans that are dry in your cupboard and then you soak them to make you soup). Corn on the other hand...once it reaches a certain dryness level of below 15-18%m, it becomes very hard and does not easily absorb  moisture. (Think of the corn people put out for the squirrels). Corn if placed direct on the ground will have a higher loss than corn placed on a concrete pad. So they don't leave it there too many months. Either crop stored in a controlled environment...the elevators...will have the least loss.

Hi Patricia Kennedy   We can hope...but you know that old saying...What goes up must come down...doesn't really apply in the food industry!!

Hi Kevin J. May   They still pick tomotoes on the truck farms around here the same way you used to pick them...one at a time!!  Same with pepers, melons, squash, pumpkins, and sweet corn!!  Some things do not change!!

Hi Linda Metallo DiBenardo  Yes...you are smack dab in the middle of the corn belt with some of the greatest soils in the world!!  One the three Big I's of the farm belt: Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa!!  You know what I am talking about!!

Hi Tammy Lankford   Below is a picture of the elevator.  What you see in the photo is an outdoor storage pad.  Off to the side out of the photos a semi-truck is dumping it's load and the belt conveyor is lifting it and dumping it on the pile of corn.  The conveyor belt in the blog is fixed in place. Some converyors are portable and will be moved a few times as the pile grows. Some piles are placed on concrete pads...some direct on the dirt. Direct on the dirt is the least desirable as it will have the highest loss...see above comment # 26. 

When it is time to move the grain from the ground...most will use either a front end loader and/or  auger or belt system that lifts the corn into: Shipment on trains...or  back into semi-trucks for transport to where it was sold such as to the Missouri River for transport via boat over seas or into other markets or to area ethanol plants or feedlots for cattle or for hogs.

Scroll down for photos:

In the photo below are trucks waiting to unload at the Lexington, NE elevator.

Portable Outdoor conveyor for temporary Corn Storage. 

Hi Karen Fiddler, Broker/Owner   Maybe next year I should host an AR meeting and get everyone rides in the combine and tractor and semi's.  It really is a cool process and it happens throughout the Midwest every year!!  Thank you for stopping by.

Hi Joanna Cohlan   I am glad you liked it.  The farmers that grow crops are on the fence about the advantages of daylight savings time.  Those that raise cattle and hogs for the most part are not a fan of it. One problem the farmer experiences with DST is that the later light means they start later but work later and thus miss many evening functions. That has lessened in recent decades as the equipment has such good lighting now...they can start in the fields earlier during planting and harvest (moisture issues withstanding such as dew and night rains).

Hi Sharon Tara   I do hope you have a chance to visit Nebraska.  It is a beautiful state with many rivers and diverse regions and many activities throughout the year!! It is not as flat as some people think and it is not boring like you may have heard!!

Hi Bill Roberts   I have my thoughts on how to do it..and I share them with my clients. Overall, some farmers (especially my clients) will make decent money and some will struggle to make a profit.

I agree with you completely, it should be an easier process. 

Hi Tammy Lankford   Yes...that is why they do not leave it long on a dirt pit if possible.  All of that goes into the price of the product.  Kind of like handling everything twice to get the job done once.  Here is another photo of outdoor storage with the plastic cover going on in the first photo.  The 2nd photo here is the new type of buildings they store grain and crops inside in.  The old silo elevators are still in use but not many are being built anymore due to cost ad they are more subsceptile.

Hi Bill Roberts   Highway 40 cuts through Kansas and Missouri and then through Illinois and Indiana.

Not sure what they were burning.  Wheat stubble or Brome grass. 

Yes I remember the day s when there were controlled burns all over the place.

Not a lot of burning anymore in Nebraska although in the winter months there will be some.

Most of the farmers I work with do very little burning unless it is to get rid of  road ditch weeds.

Thank you for stopping by and pulling out that old memory.