Do you remember your first ride in a combine? Will Shawn Smith, shown above, remember his? And will he always view the harvest with such interest and wonder?
As a farmer in the making, perhaps he will, because harvest is a special time in the lives of farmers. The plans, the planting decisions and the weather all culminate in the work of these past weeks, when harvest nears an end and yields are determined.
Shawn is the nine-month-old son of Violet and Darryl Smith, who farm with Shawn’s grandparents, John and Agnes Smith, east of Kincaid, Sask. For his first combine ride, Shawn was perched on Grandpa’s toolbox, mesmerized by the header as it ate up a crop of large green lentils.
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Late season rainfall creates concern about Prairie crop quality
Praying for rain is being replaced with the hope that rain can stop for harvest. Rainfall in July and early August has been much greater than normal.
Violet, who sent us this photo, reports that yields were disappointing at about 20 bushels per acre due to insufficient rain during the growing season. But Shawn showed no disappointment whatsoever in the exciting process of harvest.
It has become our habit in recent years to document the harvest through a special photo feature, which this week can be found on pages 86-89. Our staff members across the Prairies contribute to the package, and we are also grateful to readers like Violet Smith, who send us priceless photos of their harvest experiences.
Our space in the newspaper is limited but our space on the worldwide web is not, so you will soon be able to see additional harvest photos at www.producer.com/harvest2008/.
Faces of Harvest is our theme this year, orchestrated by staff photojournalist Bill DeKay. In a way, the faces of prairie farmers echo the face of the land they work, with furrows and wrinkles and contours – and of course character and beauty.
Brandon reporter Daniel Winters came across Rod Paterson as he fixed an alternator on his combine near Forrest, Man. Paterson offered a smile and a note that his barley crop was running at 70 bu. per acre.
Mary MacArthur photographed Stevan Lindholm near New Norway, Alta., as he took notes while using GPS, yield monitors and auto-steer in the harvest process.
Leah Sumner of Neepawa, Man., sent us a shot of Makenna Sumner, 10 months, helping her daddy drive the grain truck. Raegan Moody sent us a photo of her daughter, Lexis, chewing on a stalk of grain; a rite of passage for a farm kid.
And these are just a fraction of the beautiful faces you will see in our photo pages and in the harvest feature on our website.
We are grateful for the indulgence of farm families in welcoming our photographers to share their experiences.
We wish you all a bountiful harvest.