Dena Wood: Out and About

WAITSBURG – Having grown up in the wheat country of Condon, Ore. and after living in Waitsburg for over 20 years, you would think I would have taken advantage of the opportunity to spend a day in the harvest fields. Sadly, I hadn't, until this year.

It took the enthusiasm of Janean Struckmeir, who eagerly invited me ride shotgun while she drove harvest truck, to get me curious enough to see what she was so excited about.

Janean typically spends her days working as a dietary assistant manager at Columbia County Health System. But like many in the Touchet Valley, she saves up her vacation time to spend it working wheat harvest.

Making a few extra bucks is certainly part of the draw, but nearly every harvest crew member I've spoken with agrees that there is an excitement about being part of what is essentially the culmination of a year's worth of hard work.

Struckmeir started working for John Grant and Son Farms about eleven years ago, and said she can't wait to get started every year. "I know if I didn't do it, I would miss it. And I would really miss the people," she said.

I met Janean at her home in Waitsburg on July 15 at 6 a.m., and followed her on what she warned would be "kind of a long drive." We followed snakelike gravel backroads through yellow fields of wheat for miles before ending up somewhere between Lyons Ferry Marina and Starbuck.

When we stopped to pick up Janean's truck I have to admit I was pretty impressed. When she said "wheat truck" I was thinking of the oversized pickup-style farm trucks you often see on Waitsburg's Main Street.

Instead, we pulled up to a shiny red Kenworth 10-wheeler, complete with trailer. It looked every bit like a semi to me. Janean said she had been too scared to add the trailer until about three years ago, but finally decided she needed to keep up with the guys. And yes, she's the only female on the crew.

We drove the truck to join the crew, which consists of two combines, two bankout wagons, and four trucks with trailers. They were set up on the top of a hill, and the view across the valley and to the Snake River below was spectacular.

"If everything is going well, we can keep all four trucks running pretty steady," Janean said. But, as with most any harvest, things don't always go well. That's just part of the game.

As we arrived this particular morning, a group of men were checking out the header on the John Deere combine, which had given them trouble the day before. The camaraderie was evident as they bantered good naturedly back and forth before deciding they were ready to go.

"You done breaking stuff yet, Earl?" said one crew member? (Earl drives the John Deer and happens to be Janean's father-in-law)

"Yeah, you gonna cut something, or what?" added another.

"You gonna shut your mouth, or what?" retorted Earl.

I hopped in the Case 8120 combine with Waitsburg grad Michael Bessey and we followed Earl into the field. Michael estimated this was about his 13th harvest. He started driving water truck, moved up to wheat truck, and said this will be his fourth year driving combine. He began working for Grant's year-round in 2010.

Michael said he remembers driving the water truck with no air conditioning and a boom box taped to the dash. These days, he may get a bit bored, but air conditioning and satellite radio are a definite step up from "the good old days."

The wildlife provides additional entertainment. As we made a pass around the field I watched as a pair of does bounded for the stubble. A bit later a hawk dived down make a to-go lunch of a bull snake.

We made just one round before Earl radioed that something was wrong with his combine and headed back toward the trucks. We listened in on the radio conversation as arrangements were made to get the Pape' mechanic out to the field.

They requested their favorite mechanic and when asked for a parts list Earl directed them to "tell him to bring everything." The mechanic was out on another call and Grants was added to the waiting list.

Michael said each of the farm's combines has a 35-foot header. I was surprised at how quickly we filled up and asked how the bankout wagon would know when to show up. Richard pointed out the combine's front caution lights that start blinking when the combine is ¾ full.

Bankout wagon driver Hal White soon pulled alongside us and we dumped approximately 350 bushels of wheat into his wagon in under two minutes. After a couple of dumps, I hopped in with Hal and hitched a ride back to the trucks.

Janean was visiting with 81-year-old fellow truck driver Ted Cook, who she calls one of her favorites. "I'll really miss him when he quits driving. But I think he's in better shape than the rest of us!" she said.

Tyson, the Pape´ mechanic showed up and we joined the half dozen crew members working to fix a broken cam shaft (and replace other parts that I'm not going to try and describe). Everyone pitched in and Tyson must have "brought everything" because we were soon up and running again.

Farm owner Dan Grant arrived and unloaded eleven bright red and blue coolers; one for each crew member. Dan said his mother, Patti Grant, has been making harvest lunches for the crew for over thirty years. "She's the real story!" he said.

Dan said his daughter and niece, ages 11 and 12, help prepare the elaborate lunches. "They even include notes in them, sometimes. The first day I had a lunch that said, 'Girl Power!'" Janean said, laughing.

I'd hoped to talk with Dan a bit, but shortly after I arrived we heard, "There's a snake in the Honda!" come over the radio. Apparently, a snake had crawled into the water pump. The operator was afraid it was a rattler and wasn't sure what to do so Dan went to check it out. (Turns out it was a bull snake that had wrapped itself around the flywheel.)

"There's something every day!" Janean said, smiling.

Pretty soon the bankouts topped off Janean's truck and we hit the road. "Truck coming down the grade!" Janean said over the radio, as we crawled down the steep hill, using the jake brake most of the way.

"Does that look like dust to you?" she asked after we'd driven a few miles? It was dust blowing, but not a truck coming from the other direction as she'd feared. The road is very much a one-lane road most of the way. If two trucks met, it would be big trouble.

We met the highway at the Lyons Ferry Marina turn off and made our way to the Lyons Ferry elevator, where we were the only truck. We drove up, weighed, backed over the pit, and waited for the elevator operator to open the truck doors and release the wheat. An average truck load with a pup (trailer) is about 800 bushels or close to 50,000 lbs.

The 20-mile round trip took about an hour. Back at the field, I was able to chat with Dan a bit. Dan is a fifth generation farmer who went into partnership with his father in 1986.

Dan said John Grant and Son farms about 12,000 acres, most of which is leased land. He's been working harvest since he was 10-years-old. Dan was polite enough to answer my many questions and I was surprised to learn that each elevator pays a different price for wheat.

"Upriver costs more to barge it to Portland. So Wallula is going to pay more than Lyon's Ferry. It's all based on transportation costs," he explained.

And his thoughts on harvest? "I'm happy when it starts and happy when it's over. After about 20 days, you're ready to be done," he said.

With both combines and bankouts running, Janean's truck was quickly filled with her second load and she dropped me off at my vehicle on her way to the elevator. It was only noon and she would still have another seven hours or more in her day.

"Growing up here, there is just something that makes me want to be out here. I just love it!" she said as she dropped me off.

Note: A few days later Janean texted me a photo of a wheat fire started by one of the combines. "Just to prove that there really is something every day!" she said in her text. But that is a whole other story.