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In comparison, Thacker will combine
for some new farmers every year in
addition to his base clientele of repeat
customers. If there is drought or hail
in one area, he may work for different
farmers who have crop in another area.
He has only one large farm customer
in Alberta to whom he has provided
custom combining services for 21 years.
When Petersen’s father, Lloyd, and his
uncle Cliff started custom combining
in 1968, they headed into the U.S. with
two John Deere 95 combines. Lloyd only
stayed with it a short time and decided
to concentrate on building the family
farm at Hodgeville, while Cliff carried on
for years. Petersen and his father began
doing some custom combining work
in Canada in 1980. Then in 1998, when
an opportunity came along to expand,
Petersen began custom combining in the
U.S. When he married, Petersen took his
new bride on a honeymoon to the U.S.
along with three 9600 combines.
“Today, we get our own crop seeded
at home first, and then usually head south
around the first of June,” said Petersen.
They crop about 5,000 acres of grains,
oilseeds and pulses and run a small cow–
calf operation at Hodgeville.
Usually starting out in Oklahoma, he
makes his way north through Kansas,
Colorado and Montana, arriving back in
Canada around the end of August. He
combines his own crop at home, along
with doing custom work in Saskatchewan
until late October.
The custom harvesting equipment
lineup this year includes four New
Holland CX8080 combines with 35-foot
MacDon straight-cut headers, one
tractor, a grain cart, four semi units to
haul machinery and a grain trailer. He
also has trailers to accommodate a crew
of seven seasonal workers.
And being on the harvest circuit in the
U.S. continues to be a family affair, as
Petersen’s wife and three children join
him on the annual trip south.
“When we leave Saskatchewan,
the furthest point south is about a
2,500-kilometre trip,” said Petersen. “I
always say it takes three days to get down
there and three months to get back
home.”
Similar to Thacker’s experience,
Petersen’s main focus is on harvesting
winter wheat. He has done some corn
and soybeans over the years, but those
crops fall mainly into the “fall run” and the
timing conflicts with harvest in Canada.
Some of the earliest fall seeded crops
in Texas are ready for combining in
May. Petersen starts with winter wheat
in Oklahoma. He said crop ripening
progresses at the rate of about 19 to 24
kilometres north each day.
Most of the winter wheat crops in the
southern U.S. are straight-combined
and most grain is hauled from the field
to nearby elevators. As Petersen moves
into Montana, he’ll start to see more
swathed crops, and more grain is stored
in on-farm bins.
Happy with the reliability of his
equipment, he’ll keep his New Holland
combines in service for about three years
before trading. The company offers a
harvest support system, which has a
team of service technicians in the field
following custom combiners—providing
timely service and minimizing downtime.
Again, he said weather is the big factor.
Even when it is sunny, high humidity can
be a factor in delaying harvest.
“We work as many hours as we can,
and the odd day might put in 20 hours,
but you can’t keep up that pace all
summer,” he said. “On rain days we
service equipment and take a break, and
most days, depending on humidity, we
hope to get started before noon and
then run until about 8:30 at night before
humidity shuts you down again.”
Petersen said that, because of weather,
it is a narrow window for these U.S.
farmers to get the crop harvested.
“At home, if a guy had 2,000 acres of
wheat, he’d probably have one combine
Fall
2014
grains
West
38
A DYING ART:
The number of custom harvesting businesses across
Canada continues to shrink. Today, they number about a dozen.