Custom harvesters also deal with weather issues

Reporter's note: About this time last year I wrote a story about Strunk Harvesting, a custom cutting group out of Kansas. It was their first year in the Chinook area although they had worked several years around Chester. I got some basic information, last year, but the crew was so busy they didn't really have time to talk about what it is they do and how they do it.

With the wet weather temporarily shutting down harvesting, I thought it this might be a good time to visit with the current Strunk crew and learn a little more about their jobs and how people got connected with a traveling farm operation. I was also curious to learn how they cope with weather related interruptions, since they seemed to be having several this year.

There were three crew members staying at the Chinook Inn. We visited while they had dinner one evening at the motel restaurant. Here's some of what I learned about the life of custom harvesters.

Strunk Harvesting's crews

Jason Zausch has been with Strunk Harvesting for six years, starting as an operator. Now, during the winter, Jason and six other employees, work at the shop getting equipment back in shape for the six-month season each year. The shop is located outside Topeka, Kansas. Zausch is also the 'overseer' for the three-man crew currently in Chinook. Crews were also in Chester, Montana and a crew each in Minot and Carrington, North Dakota.

Zausch said, "At any given time there will be about 30-32 people working for Mike Strunk. Crews include operators for the combines and grain carts plus truck drivers who do the grain hauling and drive the haulers when the equipment is moved from site to site. He said, "Moving the combines and carts involves using custom trailers. We have some setups for moving multiple pieces of equipment at one time." (see photo of hauler that accompanies story).

How crew members come to work on a traveling harvest crew varies. Travis Vesley, from Wisconsin, is a first year combine operator. He said he ran farm equipment on an uncle's farm. David Thompson, a second year truck driver, had no farm experience but had a CDL license-a requirement on many of the jobs posted for cutting crews. Zausch added, "I'd say most people have some experience with agriculture. But sometimes we train a new person to run a combine. And sometimes that works out very well rather than 'retraining' someone with prior experience."

Asked about longevity on crews, Zausch said, "What we have here at the dinner table is pretty typical-at least one first year person and some with a few years. People seem to either adapt, and come back, or they don't like it and quit at the end of the season, or before." He said in a typical year about five people will leave the crew. He explained, "Our owner always has a few people ready to call if we need a new helper." He said truck drivers seem to have the highest turnover rate and added, "It takes a special mind set to be gone from home for six months and work such long hours. It's not for everyone." Strunk Harvesting's current longest serving employee has 17+ seasons completed. Strunk has been in operation for 30+ years.

Most people find a job on a crew by looking at various websites that list custom harvesting jobs or know someone who works with a crew. Looking at one of the larger job posting sites (U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc., for example), even this late in the harvest cycle there were still 11 ads for equipment operators and 16 for truck drivers with a CDL. Many ads noted "need ASAP."

Most operators pay by the month and travel expenses, like rooms and meals, are covered. Jason Zausch said, "I started with Strunk because they had a good pay rate, one of the best. I've stayed because Mike still uses motels and we eat at restaurants. Some traveling crews stay in bunk houses (mobile homes) and someone travels along to cook the meals. That's less attractive to me."

A typical day for a crew member

The three at the Chinook restaurant agreed there were typical schedules, it was the hours that could vary. Most days for this group begin with breakfast at 7am, at a café. They refuel the vehicles they brought in for the night, mostly pickups, and refill a 750-gallon fuel/supply trailer they use to service and refuel the field equipment. Most days by 10:30 am they are combining.

Zausch said it takes a little longer to get started in this area because of the distances to the fields. Cutting usually ends, in this area, about 10-11pm. In Texas they often go past midnight. If the crew is working near a café they might stop to eat for lunch. Around this area they make lunches and sometimes eat a sandwich on their machine in the evening as well.

When work stops because of wet weather, the days vary a bit. Zausch said, "There's always something to do. We may put off small repairs and do them when the weather shuts us down. This week, in Chinook, we've been trying to get all the tires on our haulers back in good shape. We also do preventive maintenance on the farm equipment."

A big change during a weather shutdown is the length of the workday. The crew agreed they usually start later in the morning and try to get back to their rooms at a decent hour. They said, "These weather shutdowns are also a good time for us to catch up on laundry, take care of personal business and have some free time to relax."

The next stage of the harvesting cycle

Mike Strunk said last year that the wheat harvest, for his crews, started mid-May in Texas and ends about the first week in September outside Minot, North Dakota. Some other crops are cut during the same season, but the primary focus is on wheat.

Zausch said there is a second harvest that involves, primarily, corn and soy beans, both crops that are ready to harvest later in the year. To begin the second harvest, the crews will return to Texas and Kansas to do corn, then soy beans later. They'll also cut milo, peas and lentils. Zausch added, "We spend a lot of time in Kansas and Nebraska during the second phase of the grain cutting.

The second harvest cycle usually ends just before Thanksgiving. Then the equipment heads back to the shop in Silver Lake, Kansas, and the crew members head to their respective homes. Asked how they spend their 'non-harvest time,' David Thompson, from northwest Pennsylvania, said he would be driving a truck or working in logging. Travis Vesley, the first year crewman from Wisconsin, said, "I'll spend the winter plowing snow." Vesley didn't say if he planned to be back with the cutting crew next year, but he seemed to be comfortable with the crew and the work.

Custom harvesting is clearly one of those jobs you either love or avoid after once trying it. Custom cutters still seem to be in demand and, judging from the number of open positions posted for custom cutting crews, there is still opportunities for work. And while wet weather during harvest can be annoying, for some crews and operators it's also a chance to take a much needed break and catch up.

Like most human enterprises, a weather disruption can have both good and bad effects. For all you harvester out there, enjoy this brief break.