Illinois Harvest | a 7 Image Story

Oct 4, 2020 | 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.4-5.6 PD-Zoom, 1 VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6, 7 Image Stories, Action, AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED, Farming, Illinois Harvest, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon D3x

Illinois Harvest | Big Round BalesIllinois Harvest | a 7 Image Story  Harvest time in northern Illinois is not your grandfather’s harvest experience.  Farming in northern Illinois, like most other parts of the country, has become largely a corporate experience.  The number of family farms continues to decline.  Even the few remaining family farms outsource their harvest to larger operators.  Corn and beans are “custom combined” by these operators using large, expensive machines.

Big Round Bales   The round bales standout big against a mostly sunny sky.   Custom Combining  What an amazing sight!  These combines cut a huge swath through the bean field.  And, they rarely stop since they can offload to the wagon while continuing to cut beans.  While watching this operation for a couple of hours, only one combine stopped only once and then for only a couple of minutes.   Into the Semi   Then, from the wagon the beans go right into the semi.  The wagon can unload faster enough for one wagon to keep up with two combines.  Pretty slick operation!   Disked Under  The farmer can almost immediately disk the field under before winter.   Small Bean Field  Why so many John Deere images?  My dad was somewhat partial to John Deere equipment.  My first tractor driving experience as a kid was on the John Deere H model.   Corn Header  Just change the cutter head and the combine will cut, husk, and shell corn.   Big Illinois Sky   After the harvest, fall paints northern Illinois fields in shades of gold accented by reds, yellows, and greens.

Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Illinois Harvest.

Click any image below for a slide show.

Threshing Machine in Operation

Nov 5, 2017 | 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.4-5.6 PD-Zoom, Daily Image 2017, Farming, Nikon 1 V3

Threshing Machine in Operation

Threshing Machine in Operation  A threshing machine or thresher is farm equipment that threshes, removes the seeds from the stalks and husks, by internally beating oats or wheat to make the seeds fall out.  Before they were developed, threshing was done by hand.  During the 19th century, threshers became widespread and made grain production much less laborious.  Today, they have largely been replaced by self-propelled combines. Threshing machine were then generally powered by steam engine tractors.  On a “threshing day”, farming neighbors gathered at that day’s farm to help complete the job in one day. The women and older girls cooked the noon meal. Children did jobs based upon their age.  For more information, check out this year’s Threshermen’s Reunion. 

Steam Engine Tractor

Nov 4, 2017 | 1 VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6, Daily Image 2017, Farming, Nikon 1 V3

Steam Engine Tractor

Steam Engine Tractor  A steam tractor is an agricultural vehicle powered by a steam engine usually used for plowing and threshing during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Steam tractors were designed specifically for agricultural uses to replace horses for pulling farm implements like plows and later for powering other farming machines.  These tractors were gradually replaced by the mid-1920s with the less expensive tractors using internal combustion engines.   For more information, check out this year’s Threshermen’s Reunion.