Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/893386
SignatureMT | 97 Small towns like Fort Benton are noticing the decrease in custom harvester numbers. "The restaurants used to stay open just to feed the crews, but now they don't because there are fewer crews," said Johnsrud. "And, they bring their own trailers, cooks and supplies. They don't go to town as much." Johnsrud can recall working on a custom harvest crew and how different it was back then. "When I first started working on a harvest crew, we had a John Deere 105 and that put three to four old combines out of business," he recalled. "Then we had a Gleaner N-7, which was a complete change - instead of four combines, we had one or two." Crews didn't always work late in the day. "Back in the old days, we'd shut down by 10 p.m. and come to town because the dew point was too high to harvest," said Johnsrud. "But, now they go all night long." Combines have become more operator-friendly in the past 30 years, according to Steve Moodie of the Moodie Implement store in Lewistown, Mont. "They are bigger and can get more done," he said. "They have more horsepower, bigger headers and cut more acres with fewer people. In the late 1990s, the headers were 30 feet long, now they have 40- to 45-foot headers." The technology has also improved. "Many of the new combines have auto-track technology, which allows you to drive a straight line and gives you a full cut each pass with no skipping or overlap," said Moodie. "This gives the operator more consistent speeds and allows the operator to watch for rocks and other hazards." The newer combines also have sensors to give the operator alerts to hazards which help avoid breakdowns. The newer headers also have the ability to follow the contour of the ground instead of being set at a preset height. "In the last 20 years, the header size has increased between 5 and 7 feet, which displaces one combine at the most," said Clark. "That's not a huge decrease in custom harvesters, maybe 5 to 10 percent due to technology." Technological advancements have improved harvest efficiency. "The auto- steering technology has made combines more efficient so the harvesters can get in and get out of the fields quicker," said Clark. "Custom harvesters don't usually stay in one place too long." Joyce Fuel & Feeds – Custom harvester Steve Strehlow of Loretto, Minn., discusses harvest plans for the week with two of his employees from South Africa. Custom harvesters hire cutters all over the world, using word-of-mouth and the Internet to find employees. MT S