Harvesting wheat to feed the world.
: : :
Here,
in mid-morning,
a Palouse wheat farmer is driving his huge John Deere combine
to harvest his 2013 crop to be delivered and sold at the local coop elevator.
: : :
For inquiring mind who want to know.
These machines cut a thirty foot wide swath.
The wheat is cut a few inches above the ground,
then moved by an auger to the center, behind the pickup wheel where it gets fed into the feeder house
and into the combine between the cylinder and the concave where the wheat is actually threshed out.
The straw flows up over the cylinder and the concave to the walkers,
five steps that move to shake out or separate the berries from the chaff.
The berries and chaff fall out
and are carried by an auger to a chute
where a powerful fan blows through a sieve to finish the separation process.
The wheat is then carried to a storage chamber for offloading to farm trucks
and the chaff is blown back out onto the ground
by a spreader in the rear of the machine.
: : :
One thing that surprised me was the sound.
These combines sounded (to my ear) like a giant vacuum cleaner, a diesel engine and a small jet engine rolled into one.
Very loud.
That surprised me.
I can see why a farmer would want to be in an enclosed cab
(beyond the comfort of AC)
to escape the noise.
: : :
Today is bid day.
I bid my coming school year bus route and bus,
our school district assigns routes and buses by driver seniority.
This year I’m #26 out of about 95 drivers.
I’m thankful to be back at work
and look forward with anticipation to a good year with the students
I transport back and forth
to school
each
day.
: : :
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‘RURALITY BLOG HOP’ #29
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Great capture, and thank you for explaining the process of how the combine actually works.
I remember working for an airline in years past and having to ‘bid’ for my work shift. Low man on the totem pole as they say! lol! I think you’ll fare much better than I did. ;-)
have a great school year!
Good luck- I hope you get a good route!
Interesting process….both for the farming and for the bidding♫ Good Luck!
What a neat photo! I find the process so fascinating. Good luck with the upcoming school year!
Amazing shot Madge — but it’s enough to make me sneeze. :)
Wishing you all the best this coming school year.
We are huge John Deere fans here, and my boys would LOVE to see that!
This was excellent! Last week I was at my boyfriend’s family farm and they were so thoughtful about explaining to me the whole process include what you just explained above. I am really looking forward to visiting the boyfriend’s farm in the Fall for the corn harvest and learn more about the process.
I hope you get the route you want for the upcoming year! :)
Love the info about how a combine works, what a labor and time saver for farmers.
Nice capture.
You have a nice composition here, as well as a good explanation for the city dwellers like me. Thanks!
And, I am glad you are feeling well enough to return to work and hopeful that you get a good route this year.
You always have the most interesting photography and Happy Back to School to you and enjoy ~ carol, xo
Great shot – and thanks for the information, I learned a lot. I’ve heard people complain that farmers are too soft because they “ride around all day in air conditioned comfort” on their tractors. First, have they tried to be a farmer? It certainly is more than just the AC in the tractor. And second, are they still driving around in a Model A car? Of course not, when improvements come along we all like to take advantage of new ideas and comforts.
I’ve heard that there were similar complaints aimed at farmers when they went from using horses to the first tractors. I say we should all be happy that it is easier today for farmers to grow food for us – because there are an awful lot of “us” to feed, and I certainly don’t want to have to grow my own wheat. Let’s hear it for the farmers!!!!
Hear, hear! I totally agree, Joann… I’ll let these dedicated farmers and their families continue their work to feed us all…
A fine shot of the combine. I really liked your description of the process of threshing.