On our long cycle ride to Rolly View, the roads were largely empty of vehicular traffic, until we hit the section between Airport Road and Rolly View Road. Our first warning should have been the long trail of muddy clumps on the pavement, but reality came, when I looked behind to see a monster tractor pulling a huge wagon closing on us quickly. It rumbled by us with dusty grain stalks swirling behind. Hmmmm, looks like it was silage time.
As I mentioned in previous posts, the County of Leduc has declared an agricultural disaster. This was evident in the sparse stalks of grain, which were also shorter in height. Rather than plow the crops under, some farmers elected to create silage out of them, particularly the oat crops, which have excellent livestock feed value. Thus, we were seeing silage wagon after silage wagon rolling by us.
These photos were taken on August 21, 2020.
On our return trip, we soon saw the field where silage harvesting was going on. It was a beehive of activity for sure.
And still, closer to home, we saw a swather working. A Redtail Hawk was circling, but soon flew off with his catch that had scurried out of the machine’s path. Even the swathed crop did not look exactly bountiful.
As my father always used to say….”Farming is Next Year country.” Hope they at least get all the crops off, this year.
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kagould17
Not much to tell. After working for 3 companies over 43+ years (38 years 7 months with my last company), I finally got that promotion I had waited my entire career for……retirement.
I have been exploring this new career for the past 7+ years and while it is not always exciting, the chance to do what I want for myself and my family instead of what my company wants has been very fulfilling. Early on, there was a long list of projects in my “to-do” hopper and I attacked these projects with a vengeance for the first 9 months of retirement. Eventually, my brain told me that this was not what retirement was about, so it took me another 5 months before my industriousness again took over and I attacked another line of projects, this time somewhat shorter and less complicated, as well as many new projects related to the family weddings in 2016. After going hard for 6 weeks and 3 weddings, my body was telling me to relax, then the flu bug hit and as soon as that was done with me, my sciatic acted up. No rest for the wicked. In 2020 and 2021, the Covid 19 pandemic changed the whole retirement gig. I was lucky to not be still working, for sure.
I enjoy photography, gardening, working with my hands, walking, cycling, skiing, travelling, reading and creating special photo and video productions obtained in my first pastime. I may never become wealthy in any of these pursuits, but I already feel I am rich in life experiences far beyond any expectation.
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PhotoblographyToo 
Love the fall harvest season! Too bad about the crops.
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Agreed. There is some hope that at least they will get it all off before snow hits, unlike last year. Thanks for reading Lori. Allan
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Today’s agricultural machinery is impressive, it can do so much work with little human power.
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A mixture of machinery and technology. My late father would be so amazed. His life on the farm was much more complicated. Thanks for reading. Allan
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Fascinating pictures. Sorry to hear that it was a poor season there. I live in the midst of farming country too … our farmers were relieved to have bumper wheat crops this year … last year it snowed by this time and many didn’t get all of their crops cut … especially the soy beans.
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Ys, we had similar bad luck here last year with early snows. This year looks better, with dry weather for the next 1-2 weeks. Maybe it will all work out this year. Thanks for reading Shelly. Allan
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65% completed in Sask –above the 5 year average. So so dry.
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Good news. How has the yield been? Alberta was at 30% on September 18. A lot of crops in the swath right now, as we are not so lucky on straight combining here. That being said, we have seen farmers out straight combining over the last week and if this dry spell holds, there may be some good news. The canola swaths look heavy, just not sure what the pod fill will be like. Fingers crossed for the farmers. Thanks for reading Bernie. Allan
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I haven’t talked to anyone about yield but with how dry it was u bet there was not great fill.
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Those poor farmers! Let’s hope next year is better, for all of us, but especially for those who have struggled so hard this year.
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We all just need some good news and some good results. The weather is at least cooperating in the late September period. If they can at least get it all harvested, that would help. Thanks for reading Ann. Allan
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I love harvest season when it’s time to reap what you sow. It’s the most important time both for the farmers and gardeners and I always look forward to seeing harvest activities right here in Sligo. Yes, it’s not much fun to get stuck behind a line of tractors on your way to work, but the size of machinery is always impressive to see up close. Thanks for sharing and have a good day 😀 Aiva
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It was a little daunting to have one of these rumble by, when we were on bicycles. I just hope that the harvest is better than predicted. The farmers really need a break. Thanks for reading and commenting Aiva. Allan
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