Agvocacy 2.0 Contest

This post is an entry for our Agvocacy 2.0 Contest. Contestants are sharing their favorite Ag story with us to be entered. The contestant whose blog post receives the most comments, likes, and tweets will win.

There are only a select few 20 year old girls out there who can say they've spent 17 summers of their childhood custom harvesting wheat for farmers throughout the U.S. I was barely 2 months old the first year I went along on the harvest run. We would start in Texas and work our way up into Alberta, Canada. I can honestly say it was the best way to grow up! I've spent over 4 years of my life on the wheat harvest and made so many wonderful memories.

• Learning to walk in a laundromat in central Texas
• Attending Baptist vacation bible school in northern Oklahoma
• Living in a camper in 40-100 degree weather
• Recognizing the smell of a ripe wheat field
• Cooking for 20+ people and delivering the food up to 50 miles away
• Watching a combine reel go around and around and around
• Many naps on the floors of combines
• At four years old, learning how to spell ?diesel? in line at the elevator
• Spending the fourth of July in central South Dakota
• Getting caught in numerous tornados in Kansas and Colorado
• Always knowing how close a public pool was
• Being able to run barefoot in wheat stubble after many years of practice

These are only a few of the memories I was so lucky to experience growing up. The most important I learned from the wheat harvest is the hard work and dedication farmers have to their crops. I take such pride in the face I helped harvest the crops that feed the world.

- Leah Joy Johnson
International Harvester