Getting the beans out in a hurry

OCONTO - Soybean harvest was in full swing Oct. 9 in a field in southern Custer County. Jake Guthard began harvesting the day before, working to get beans out before the forecasted freezing temps, gusty winds and possible snow hit later that week. Driving by the field after dark, one could see a scene familiar to many in ag country - the other-world appearance of huge equipment moving steadily through the dark with bright lights turning night into day.

The morning of Wednesday, Oct. 10, Guthard and Rick Dvorak were tag teaming with Dvorak driving the combine and Guthard the grain cart. Guthard off-loaded beans to a waiting semi and said he had two other drivers. “Probably in line” at the elevator, he said.

Asked how bean harvest was going, he answered, “It’s hit or miss, depending on where the hail hit.”

Guthard manages pastures and crop

lands in the area. He also farms with his father and grandfather of Litchfield. Next to the beans being harvested, corn still stood in the field. The corn, he said, would be taken out “when it’s dry,” he said and then added with a grin, “We’ll see what the weather bring.”

Guthard said he just moved cows and calves into a new pasture across the road from the beans. “They need to be weaned and moved to the corn field, but it’s too wet to harvest corn,” he said.

Harvest, he commented, will be a long drawn-out process however he was glad things were moving along before the weather change. “We got a lot out in a hurry when it was ready,” he said.

Mona Weatherly Above, Rick Dvorak harvests soybeans in a field in southern Custer County while Jake Guthard, off camera, loads beans from the grain cart to the semi-truck on the county road. Guthard would like to move cattle to the corn but has to wait until the corn is dry enough for harvest.

Mona Weatherly Under a beautiful Oct. 10 sky, Jake Guthard of Oconto takes a moment to talk harvest after loading a semi with soybeans. Rick Dvorak is driving the combine in the fields.