Checking on local crops

I haven't ridden my horse nearly as much as usual, this summer. So it had been awhile since I went down near the Missouri River to see how what was happening with the crops on the rich bottom-ground.



On the way there, I noticed someone planted some winter wheat. This crop will go dormant during winter, but at the first hint of spring it will green up again and grow. It can often be harvested in time for the farmer to plant soybeans in the same spot, thus getting two crops off the same bit of ground in one growing season.


There are still plenty of soybeans left to harvest.


The line of trees in the distance marks the bank of the Missouri River, which was my original destination.

But I didn't make it, because I found a flurry of activity on the way there.

Farmers are combining soybeans!

The combine is creating quite a cloud of chaff and dust. What do you suppose this farmer thinks of a lady on horseback taking his picture? He isn't one of the farmers I'm acquainted with, but at least nobody told me to get off his property.


One truck is loaded with soybeans, one is waiting to be filled.

Now that's a lot of soybeans. Perhaps some of them will wind up in the next bottle of vegetable oil you buy at the grocery store; although the largest portion of soybeans is used as protein in livestock feed. It's mind-boggling, though, the many uses for this crop.

It was a good two-hour ride, and a perfect day for it.