Explication and textual analysis methods

¶ … exciting times of year for farmers is the harvest. The reason why, is because this is an opportunity for them to be able to reap windfall profits from taking their crops to the market. The key to realizing the greatest returns is to be the first group of farmers to bring their products to the mills. At the same time, they are racing against the weather and the possibility that a percentage of the crop could spoil or over ripen.

In the case of wheat farmers, these challenges increase exponentially. This is from the possibility that rain showers and extreme heat could damage the crop. To make matter worse, these individuals will have to deal with the possibility of falling prices. This is in the face of other farmers who are taking their crops to market at the same time. Over the short-term, this can flood local grain markets with large supplies (leading to temporary declines in prices). Given the fact that there is a limited window of opportunity for farmers, means that it is imperative to be one of the first to send their crops to the markets. Otherwise, there is a possibility that they could lose substantial amounts of money (which could have an adverse impact on their profit margins). This story is about the harvest and the challenges these farmers will go through.

On a warm June afternoon, Steve Widener (a wheat farmer) was struggling to prepare for the harvest that was coming around at the beginning of July. What was happening is he had expanded the size of his farm significantly and had invested heavily in wheat. The basic idea was to use this as a way to be able to increase his profit margins dramatically, so that he could purchase cattle. Over the long-term, the higher prices in these areas will provide him with enough income to live comfortably.

As the harvest date moved closer, is when Steve began to encounter a number of problems most notably: a labor shortage and the possibility of custom cutters arriving early. To make matter worse, Steve had purchased a $250 thousand combine and needed to cover as many acres as possible. After, receiving a favorable weather forecast Steve decided to begin cutting early. This was to beat the custom cutters to the local farms and to ensure that crop is not destroyed by changes in the weather patterns. The custom cutters are groups of individuals that go from Texas to Southern Canada (cutting the wheat crop for farmers). The problem when they come to an area (during the harvest) is they will help to flood the local grain markets (which causes prices to drop). Steve wanted to be able to account for this by starting his harvest early. This would give him sufficient time to sell the grain in the target ranges that he was looking for. (Nance)

The labor shortage that he was experiencing meant that he would have to drive the combine himself. At approximately 3:30 in the morning is when he started out. During the process of driving out to the field is when he remembered hearing from some of the workers about how there had been antelope spotted on the property. This is because of the real estate development occurring in the nearby towns and many farmers were driving them away from their properties.

Steve felt that he should be fine given the fact that the combine had large flood lights and it would be dawn in about an hour and a half. At sunrise, he had made several paths in the field and everything seemed to be fine. When all of the sudden, Steve heard a thud and auger (i.e. plow) seized up (causing the engine to start overheating). Frustrated, he turned off the engine and started to clean out the auger of the debris that was clogging it. As he was getting ready to climb back into the combine is when Steve looked up and seen movement in the front of him. He walked forward and realized it was a baby antelope, which had lost its mother. The antelope had nowhere to go and did not know what to do in the high wheat grass.

Steve picked up the antelope and let it ride in the combine with him for the rest of that day. Later that evening, he realized that the creature had no place to stay and took care of it. In the next two weeks, Steve continued to come across large amounts of antelope. This caused him to begin to realize that something needed to be done about this problem. The challenge was keeping some kind of balance between: protecting the animal and not abusing the rights of farmers. During the course of brining in the harvest, is when Steve decided that he must take action. This forced him to go even further, as he had the obligations to the farm itself and now to the antelope that he had become so fond of during the harvest.