Monday 1 December 2008

Harvest is stuffed...........

I'll leave the bad news til last...........
I wanted to show you some pics from harvest.............since I got lots of interest in the silo pics back a few weeks ago............I have said in a few posts since that harvest has turned into a disaster for many in our district.........as I have not got a chance to get close to a header this season a friend let me use these pics of harvest she took.........



it gets pulled in the front where it gets cut off and the heads of wheat go thur and get sorted into rubbish and grain...........the rubbish gets thrown out the back of the header.........the grain goes into a box at the back of the cab behind the driver...............



sometimes the headers empty straight into a truck............the auger goes out from the header to transfer the grain across..........





But mostly the headers have someone in what is called a chaser cart.............usually a tractor and field bin with wheels running around the paddocks unloading the headers...................(see little green tractor and blue bin on the left) this will then come back to the main bigger bin in the paddock and empty into it or empty into a truck...............then off to the silos or where ever they are storing it..........

below chaser cart ----> main bin---> truck


here is a storage shed which they were using when the silos were shut................they auger the grain in thru the roof............


we have had lots of storms in the last or 2 and I love this pic................storm coming up over the paddocks.............


trying to get a bit more off before the rain...........


isn't this cool............


Now as for our harvest it is all ruined by hail.............we have lost all our crops at 2 different places.........


.....we weren't sure til yesterday about the second place and I was trying to ignore the first place that we knew about but then reality is not good.............we went out for a look and it is devastating............


all snapped off with hail...........the bottom right pic is a precious little plant that survive most of it but there is barely a plant like it in the paddock...........most are like the top right pic............all broken and hanging off or like the bottom left and on the ground and the seed laying on the ground...........absolutely nothing we can do..........like is not fair sometimes............so close to harvest but so far away...............the sad thing is we are not on our own and lots of people have hail damage to some degree..........ours just happens to be the lot.............


(click on the pic if you want to see it closer)


.........take care til next time.............
.......Chookyblue..........

52 comments:

jacquie said...

hail can be so devastating. i'm so sorry.

Julie said...

All that hard work destroyed so quickly, devastating. As if things aren't bad enough. Really feeling for your family and other in your district. Julie.

Flutterby Angel said...

That is sooo bad. I hope you were insured against the hail.
I have heard so many similar stories.....so close and yet so far....

Tracey @ozcountryquiltingmum said...

This is breaking my heart, I'll have to get Dh to take a look when he comes in, he is working day and night cutting all our wheat that didn't get to fill (I'm just organising pics of this for a post), he needs to see how lucky he is that there's something to cut!
Lots of love, Tracey

Jeanne said...

Donna, I'm so sorry to hear about your crop loss. All of that work and one storm can take it all away. I'll keep your family in my prayers.

Kris Meares - Tag Along Teddies said...

Hey Donna! Oh no! Not good! That's the heartbreak of farming - it always seems to be a 'so near, yet so far' kind of deal and I don't think my nerves would cope with it. There's a Colin Buchanan song that sums up farming well, I think - part of the chorus says, "Come what may, there's been worse things in our way, it's our home and we won't leave without a fight." Most farmers are battlers - and at least you know there's lots of positive, supportive vibes aimed at you. Bear Hugs! KRIS

lzilulu said...

....seeing your photos brings tears to my eyes....nearly as much as seeing the local paddocks under water and other wheat and early cotton crops that have been shredded....DH is still plugging along.....stranded in the middle of a VERY wet black soil road with a road train load of grain on board...and I'm 100plus ks away listening intently to our local flood warnings....but, life isn't all bad...a friend has just dropped off a load of garden soil...full of loam, straw, poo and all that lovely stuff....
lzilulu xox

The Naturalist's Daughter said...

Thats awful news. I'm sorry to hear that.

Anonymous said...

I really don't know how cropping farmers cope....it's bad enough milking cows but the weather impacts you guys just so much. I have relations in the Wimmera that have had their eighth year of crop failure. Take care and comfort from the knowledge that a lot of people are thinking of you.
Linda

Shari said...

I'm so sorry for your loss. We live in hope but never really know what's going to happen. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.
Hugs

Cheryl said...

Donna I am so very sorry. Such a loss for you and the others. I will hold you all in my thoughts.

Leisa said...

I am so sorry for your harvest loss. I hope you had insurance. It is devastating to get a crop so far and then to lose it. Farming is such a gamble most of the time - my family hasn't had a wheat crop since 2002, thankfully they have had good summer crops to see them through.

willywagtail said...

It was so kind of you to explain the harvesting process whilst in the midst of so much personal distress. I'm so sorry. Cherrie

Stina Blomgren said...

Ahhh...this was no good news at all...makes me very sad...cause I know how devastating this is for farmers... months and months of preparations and destroyed in just a blink! Have you all in my thoughts...and hope for some miracles!

Jenny of Elefantz said...

How very sad for you...{{{hugs}}}...

Sheryl said...

Living on the land can be so hard, lucky there are good times as well, I am thinking of you and your neighbours, wish there was some way to help, hugs

Jodie said...

Chooky - thats awful.Here we all are wishing for rain and yet look what it can do? I'm really sorry.

trash said...

Oh Chooky! Bugger!!

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

So sorry to hear of your harvest! Sending lots of thoughts your way.

Bloom said...

An unbelievable year Donna, for all the wrong reasons. Figured you might have copped hail from the weather reports. Some friends at Narromine got completely wiped out too. Hope the insurance is some solace. Thinking of you all. Ros.

Kathy said...

So sorry to hear your devastating news. I have no words, but you, and all the other farmers in your region, are in my thoughts and prayers. Kathy

Unknown said...

So Sorry to read of your Loss Donna...can't even Imagine how you & Your Family are Feeling...
Big Hugs

Annie said...

Too sad for me Chooky - you are a brave woman to be out on the land, exposed to the elements - my heat bleeds for farmers everywhere - but I LOVED the lightening shot and the clouds over paddocks. Keep selling those cards!!

Lurline said...

Me too - I'm so sorry - doesn't seem fair!
Hugs - Lurline!

Nancy Near Philadelphia said...

This is heartbreaking, GF. The pictures tell the story all too well.

Katie said...

Sad news. But thanks for sharing the pictures. I hope next year makes up for it.

After a horrible drought last year, this past summer was good to our farmers. Something to give thanks for!

Pat said...

I am so sorry to hear your news Donna. I am sending you thoughts, prayers and big hugs.

suz said...

Those pictures are so sad. You all have seen some really hard times this year. Here in New England our worst weather is usually in the winter, so crops aren't affected, but we see these kinds of things in the midwest, where most of the large farms in the US are. My heart goes out to you and your family and all those affected by this weather. My prayers are with you all.

Chocolate Cat said...

Thinking of you and your family, so much work for no end result, it is heartbreaking. Mother nature can be very cruel.

Fiona said...

What rotten luck for you. Funny how those of us in cities yearn to be closer to the land but forget how cruel nature can be.

Katherine said...

Oh, no! That's terrible. I'm very sorry to hear about the devastation of your crops. Thinking of you and your family.

Carole said...

I am so sorry to read this Donna. It just seems like one extreme to the another in Oz as of late. My friend Cheryl from Oz let's me know what's going on. She keeps close tabs on farmers etc.. Keep well!

Chookasmum said...

Hi Chooky,
From a former farmer, now a semi-retired hobby farmer, sincere commiserations.
We loved farming, but with weather like that and floods,no control over prices, and BANKS, farming is the biggest gamble of the lot, but oh the joys when everything goes right.
Cheers

Anonymous said...

Donna, I was so sorry to read your bad news and those pictures really brought home to me what a gamble and a heartbreak farming can be. I hope that knowing so many of us have you in our hearts brings a little comfort. Thank you for all your sharing, and for your lovely message to me on my new blog; it gave me such a lift. Best wishes, Jan

Levin said...

those storm pics are amazing. we haven't had a decent storm here since last summer (not that we get too many). i love them though!!
i'm so sorry about your crops - it must be the most devastating part of being on the land - the unpredictability of nature. it just doesn't seem fair though - you were sooooooo close :(
l
x

Threeundertwo said...

I am so very very sorry.

Julie said...

I am so sorry to hear about that!

julieQ said...

I am so very sorry. Growing up on a farm, I can surely understand but still not fathom your loss. I am so sorry.

Leanne said...

What a sad post.......here we are in SA our crops haven't had any rain so are in the same boat.

Jenny said...

Sorry to hear about your crops Chooky-take care

Anonymous said...

Hello Donna, you are in my thoughts.I am so sad to see those pictures.All your hard work, life can be so unfair.Regards Lyn

Coloradolady said...

I am so sorry for the devastation to your families crops. I am sure you feel very helpless. It is cruel how mother nature's wrath can destroy so much. My thoughts and prayers are sent your way. I know that sounds lame as I type that out, but it is heartfelt.

Browndirtcottage said...

i am so sorry all your time and hard work gone in a flash.....I KNOW exactly how you feel....we are cotton farmers...( where quite possible some of your little fat quarters come from )...we have experienced numerous hail storms over the years....beats the cotton out of its little boles...strings it out and laying all over the ground to where it looks like it has snowed.....it makes you speechless and empty feeling...so i really have you and most of all.."dear hubby" in my thoughts and prayers!!!!!!!

Pam said...

Oh Donna - that is so terrible about the loss of your crops. It must be so difficult to depend on things that are completely out of your control like that. I don't know how you do it. And then the world forgets how important the farmers are and where the food that we eat comes from. I wish you all the best.

Unknown said...

I am so sorry my dear Donna, how sad.

Anonymous said...

Oh I am so sorry!

Lori in South Dakota said...

So sorry to hear about your harvest. I just hate going out to check the fields after a storm like that and finding your crop looking like wooden matches someone stuck in the ground and broke off. My sympathies to you and all your farming community.

Anonymous said...

This is so sad. I am sorry! I scrolled through the comments and saw nothing for insurance. I hope you have and it covers this all.

Jacqueline said...

What can a city girl say? I don't know how you do it - it must be devastating to loose it all. So sorry.

Red Geranium Cottage said...

OH Donna I'm so sorry about your harvest. That is just awful.

Lily Mulholland said...

Love the lightening photo. Sorry it came with hail :(

Martha said...

I am so sorry for the anguish your family is suffering. I know how it feels to be at the mercy of the weather, feeling so helpless. My thoughts are with you and yours.