Prepping for Harvest Season with Farmer Jeff Kloucek

Harvest season can start as early as September for some farmers. We decided to catch up with Scotland, South Dakota farmer Jeff Kloucek to learn about how he prepares for harvest season. 

In this Q&A, Jeff shares how he balances his full-time job with the demands of farming and family life. He also gets into the importance of planning ahead and what it takes to have a successful harvest. Get close-up and personal with the hard work and dedication that goes into bringing in the crops every harvest season.

Pre-Harvest Planning

How do you start planning for the harvest season and what factors help you decide?

Planning for this harvest season really started after last year’s harvest. We evaluate the health of the products that we planted. Previous years, fertility and crop protection programs all worked on our farm so we keep using those. Crop maturity, pests and the weather are the major factors that dictate when we can start harvest.

This year we have a high population insect pressure all through the year. Some of those pests can cause our beans to lodge as they mature. We'll try to identify those fields and push the timing as much as we can so we can harvest the beans before they fall down.Then we take all that data to adjust if needed for the next year.  

Equipment Preparation

What maintenance or checks do you perform on your equipment before harvest begins?

We go through our equipment pretty well before harvest. We're servicing engines, fluids, checking tires and augers are just a few of the major components. Machines do break down but we do everything we can to ensure our equipment is ready and in good condition. Every couple years we will send the combine into a dealers shop for them to do a total inspection and replace worn parts.

Field Preparation

How do you assess the readiness of your crops for harvest?

We look at crop condition and grain moisture to determine if a field is ready to harvest. If the crop is starting to lodge, ears breaking off, or pods popping open, we will try to get to it. However, the moisture content in the grain has to be low enough that we can store it safely.

We try to combat this by improving drainage for example. It's a critical step to ensure you can harvest a crop on time. Other steps are just having a good plan throughout the year like taking care of the weeds in a timely manner or managing fertility. Doing that, your crop matures properly every year.

Labor and Workforce

How do you manage your farm during the busy harvest season?

I work full time as a crop consultant and the fall is when we do most of our soil sampling. My cousin that I farm with also has a full-time job as a power lineman and he is a physical trainer. We work our regular jobs during the day and then we will go harvest afterwards.

When we really get going though, we are both fortunate enough that we can get time off from work to harvest. There is one other family member that we farm with that farms full time. He's able to keep equipment ready and will get things done while we are at work

Weather and Timing

How do you monitor and react to unexpected weather conditions during harvest?

The weather conditions during harvest dictate whether we can go or not. When the weather cooperates, we will push as hard as we can to get as much done as time allows. When the conditions aren’t favorable, we take those days to make a hard push for other things.

We catch up on our full time jobs and make any repairs or maintenance to our equipment. When it’s time to go back to the field we have everything ready.

Storage and Logistics

How do you prepare your storage facilities for the incoming crops?

We will get all the bins cleaned out over the summer. We have some grain in storage on the farm so those bins get emptied and cleaned. Once we do that, we will inspect them for any potential issues and get them repaired before we put any grain in them.  

Are there any unique techniques or considerations you have when harvesting soybeans compared to other crops?

It isn’t unique but I like to harvest our soybeans at an angle. I will determine which way the wind is blowing and harvest at an angle that goes across the wind. Angling against it helps keep the dust off the machine and maintain visibility of the header.

One other reason for harvesting at an angle is if we have any side by side trials out in the field, I know that by going across those trials versus with the trial I eliminate skewing that data in any way.

Safety Measures

What safety precautions do you implement to ensure a safe harvest season?

Making sure our equipment is clean and in good condition is a major part of having a safe harvest. Having fire extinguishers available and in working order is very important. Communication between everyone involved is also important.

Those of us running the equipment doing the harvesting stay in communication. Even our families who are around the yard, bringing us food to the field, or want to come along for a ride. We make sure everyone knows how to act around the equipment and where we are in case an accident were to happen.

Financial Considerations

What role do market prices and demand forecasts play in your harvest preparations?

Markets and demand play a critical role in preparing for harvest. This year, we will do some soil sampling on some fields that aren’t normally due to be sampled. With the economics the way they are, we want to be as efficient as possible with our fall fertilizer program.

We are still deciding if we want to plant any wheat behind soybeans this fall. We will need to make that decision soon so we can get everything in place if needed so it can be planted on time.

Personal Insights

What do you enjoy most about the harvest season?

My favorite part about harvest is analyzing that data. We put so much into our crops throughout the year with the hope that we made the right decisions. It is the culmination of all that planning, hard work and time throughout the year that we get to cut across our fields and see the fruits of our labor. Analyzing the data is critical to knowing if those were the right decisions, and how can be improve for next year.

How does the harvest season impact your family and personal life?

Harvest has an impact on my family and personal life. Like I said before, we are busy with my full-time job, and then throw harvest on top of it and it gets crazy. It can be really tough to balance everything and some years it is easier than others.

This year with no wheat, we will have more acres to harvest this fall. It could be one of the tougher to manage years, but our families are very supportive and always do what they can to help.

Our families, on top of managing their careers, they are like a single parent for a good portion of the fall. This allows us to pursue our passion. As if that’s not enough, they usually get asked to help shuttle us around while we move equipment between fields, keep us fed, or pick up parts. We couldn’t do it with their help and support.

We previously had cattle rancher and South Dakota soybean ambassador, Calli Williams, learn more about Jeff’s farm operation. Read more to get another perspective of Jeff’s farm.