[AT] Harvesting questions...

[Gene Waugh Elgin, Illinois USA]

Not really on topic, but more so than some of our threads!! :-)

All fall I have been driving about 35 miles west from Elgin, IL (to 
DeKalb, IL) a couple times a week, and have lots of questions that come 
to mind about harvesting today, farming today, etc. 

Bear in mind that my only real exposure to farming was on the family 
farms of my grandparents (I did live with them for much of my high 
school years, 1958-1961) and other relatives.

I remember as a small child the upgrade from a 1 row pull corn picker to 
a 2 row, and a 5' Oliver combine to a 6' IH combine---all pto driven, 
mostly pulled by  an early 50s IH M or an even older unstyled JD G.  In 
the early to mid 50s we even got our very own baler (IH pto powered), 
man, what flexibility that gave us!!

Of course, even the one row picker was a wonderful upgrade for the 
adults of the time, as they had all grown up picking corn by hand.  I 
never did talk to my grandfather about how they harvested small grain.

On this 35 mile drive, I am almost constantly amongst either beans or 
corn.  The harvesting rates are astronomical (to me).  It seems as 
though they often take more time to set up a field (or series of fields) 
than it does to actually combine.  By setting up, I mean transporting 
equipment, mounting heads, etc. 

I guess my real question is this...I understand that in my youth a farm 
might be talking of 50 - 100 acres to harvest, whereas today it is 500 - 
1000 acres or more.  But...Is the "typical" farmer REALLY ten times more 
efficient today?  I know that the equipment is more than ten times more 
efficient, but what good does it do to get a crop in in 5 days if two 
weeks would do?

I'm not looking for right or wrong answers, just curious.  Is it really 
all that much more profitable today, considering the investment in 
equipment, etc.?  Based on the actual hours of usage, I can imagine the 
REAL cost of some of that equipment!!!

-- 
Gene
Gene Waugh
Elgin, Illinois USA