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Exeter Times–Advocate
COMMUni tY
Wednesday. November 25. 191,e;
Finkbcjner riches the co
mb ,
By Kate Monk Ines in ..western Canadaenjoyed an curly harvst and U.S.
----.- .SII ~tori treason ws ---
11%r1-:S-N)VOC ' , .
CHEDITON — Imagine
e•umbining' from early
morning till midnight,
seven days a week.
That's .how Je.renly, •
Finkbeiner, 2h, ()I'
• Crediton spent the past •
• two surnriter's . and
autumns in western p
Canada and the United t
States.
Finkbeiner worked for a tI
custom harvester
Saskatchewan in 1997. is
The crew of four com- vl
bines, three tandem •.a
trucks and one semi 13(
• transport truck started la
June 3 in Kansas and aft
W(irked their way north- co
- ward through .South sa
Dakota to Saskatchewan. a t
This year, Finkbeiner 66
Worked for an :Alberta- wh
- based operator and- fol- pi(
.lowed : a route from wo
Kansas to Colorado, go
Montana and Alberta. • ex
Although the majority a we
his work was harvesting ma
wheat, he also worked Thi
with barley. canola, soy- rue
• beans, .cora, oats, canary equ
seed, flax and corn millet. say
He definitely has his ing,
favourite crops and those- the
he'd prefer to avoid. "T
"When
"When you plug your_ was
combine with barley, ed,"
-you're in a bad•place," "Unt
Finkbeiner said. - hat
-*Other challenges includ- want
ed wet fields and hail- bine
damaged crops.
tions
Ills employers; provided probl(
room and -board: The first T h e
year was -spent in a motor not as
home but motels were the • ' "Th(
accommodations' this pretty
• year. out t
"Most crews were young lime.
guys• rinkbeiner explai
e.xpli fined. "This �e r the exten
crew- was 2O-31) 1ears old r-e,t u rr
sn• the guys could get and Ic;
• along better." • -
• hurves
Conditions' -varied Stint on
between '97 and '9S. The.- _ When
first year- had a r(iol wet return
spring but' this year's dry Finkbe
spring allowed the Crops • saying i
to be planted early. his ('rnp
Although the western L.S. • here.
• and Canada also had -dry Both y
conditions, they harvested found 1
bumper crops and later -net
• After spending hun-
dreds of hours on Tarot
equipment. Finkbeiner
has his definite Opinion;:
on equipment and gives
loin) Deere combines his
thumbs up.
Finkbeiner's crew was
tlso responsible for trans-
orting the crops to eleva-
ors. He said most were
o -operatives owned by .
he growers. - •
Using custom operators
a common way of liar •
-
!sting in the • west.
!cording .to Finkbeiner:
!cause the farms are so
rge, farmers couldn't
ford to own as• many
mbines as are neces-
ry to harvest the crop in
imely fashion.
When you only have
eat to do, you couldn't
'k up much custom
rk because it'd all be
ne." Finkbeiner
plained. Hain days.
re spent repairing and
intaining equipment.
s year's operation
lied and greased
ipment-at night to
c time the •next morn -
adding extra hours to
work" day_
he first year. I went
everything I expect-
Finkbeiner said.
it the last month of
vest when I didn't
to see another corn -
because of the condi-
• arid equipment
!ms."
second year was
thrilling.•
novelly Wore off
quick when I got
here. the second
Finkbeiner
ne(l-: F;ven so, he
(led his stay by
.
link to \'eb1•aska
tbsas for the corn
t. wrapping up his
Nov. 1. ..
asked if he would
for a third year,
iter' -wasn't sure,
(would depend on
loyment situation
silletl ads 111 a farm news-
paper" at <www.pruduc-
er. ('om>. •
. When asked how he
was able to endure the
long. work .hours, he
replied, "You havi' to be
able to work long hours •
and not walk. away at 5
p.nl. Even when it rains,
there's a lot of stuff to
(I0.' . • .
"It was by no means a
vacation," he summa-
ri,.ed.
Three in a row. Finkbeiner's crew included four combines and transport p t trucks.
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Jeremy'Finkbeiner of Crediton spent the past two
summers combining in western Canada and the U.S.