Harvesting more than just corn

     Here on out family farm this time of year is always busy. Its harvest season. During these 3 weeks we put up enough corn silage (about 5000 tons) to last us the entire year. This requires alot of hard work and it requires everyone to step up and go above and beyond what they normally do. The window for us to put up our corn crop the right way is very small.
     First the corn has to freeze to harden the kernel and make the moisture an optimal level to turn the product to silage. We play the waiting game, until the first frost, and then its game on! We start chopping around 7 every morning, but that's not until after we have already completed our other normal duties for the day.
     In our case my neighbor and friends at M&K ranch grow corn for us, they also chop the corn that we grow. This year they had two New Holland choppers and up to 9 trucks delivering corn to us. We have at least 2 tractors and sometimes up to 4 working what we call the silage pit. We form a mountain that is 100 feet from one side to the next. The tractors on the pit are required to push the silage to form this mountain and pack the silage as tight as possible. The tighter we can pack the silage the better the product will be. At times when we feel extremely busy my uncle will pull his young son out of school to come and help us. He is only 12 but he is an excellent tractor driver. It makes him feel important to be here and it teaches him a good work ethic. We are "harvesting" a young farmer in the making.
     The final step in the harvest process is perhaps the most un liked part of the process. We have to cover our put & put tires on top of the plastic. It takes 30 sidewalls tied together to go over the entire pile and they are touching each other all the way up and down. This takes a group effort from all of our available employees. We all come togrthernatbthe end of the afternoon to complete this process. I feel that this "harvests" a cloaeness and friendship that we feel with our employees. Its not a fun part of the job, but if we all work together ot goes smoothly and we all share in the sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
      Our harvest season is about more than just putting up a good crop of corn. Its about teaching our next generation how important they are and how important a good work ethic is. Its about every employee on our operation knowing that they are always needed and that it takes all of us working together to end up with a good end result.