Ready, Set… Go!

By Jack Elliott
Rainy River Correspondent

With a collection of several million dollars worth of harvest equipment, trucks, grain handling,drying, storage capacity, and a trained crew sitting at the ready today Tuesday Sept 6, 2022 was starting day for Brielmann Agriculture Ltd on this year’s harvest.

“This is the first field that is ready,” noted partner Amos Brielman pointing to the wheat that was planted on May 24. He added the late planting and backwards growing season delayed harvest by about a month from normal.

The crew, old and novice was gathered around the massive harvesting equipment for a review of safety and operating rules before the combines were fired.

“Use your radios to keep communications, open, clear and polite,” instructed leader Timo
Brielmann,”and remember combines have the right-of-way.”

“Never stop or park behind a combine and always try o approach the combine from upwind to maintain visibility and keep from plugging up filters and cooling systems,” he added.

“Watch out for gullies, pot holes, rocks, stumps or other dangers,” he cautioned adding other machine operators to caution the team if they knew the location of an obstacle.

The first day or so of operation will go slow until kinks in the operation are worked out and then the whole harvest parade will roll continuously like a synchronized well oiled machine, harvesting, unloading and hauling without stopping.

Over the past days some field have been sprayed with a desiccant to speed ripening said Amos but adding they still need from two to four weeks for all the crops to mature properly. At this time of the year it is a race between ripening and frost. Frost or wet weather would reduce yield and quality of sensitive crops. Many fields of wheat, corn, beans, oats, and canola are all still vulnerable to frost damage.

At 11:00 am the first combine rumbled to life and taking a massive 45ft swath in a cloud of dust began to swallow the standing grain.