With 13.5 million acres of corn and 9.45 million acres of soybeans in Iowa alone, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, many hands are needed to harvest before winter sets in.
September through early November, farmers are at their busiest season as harvest is in full swing. Harvest becomes a full-time operation for all involved, as a workday can run longer than 12 hours.
Students across campus find themselves heading home to lend a hand in Iowa and across the Midwest.
Dawson Roth, a freshman in agronomy, is one of the many students who go home to assist in harvest. Working a 600-acre farm in Jesup, Iowa, Roth says he hasn’t spent a weekend in Ames.
“I would leave right after my class ends on Friday so I can get home around 5:00 p.m.,” Roth said. “Then I would work until 9:00 p.m. if there was enough to do. I wouldn’t get back to Ames until after 11:00 p.m. on Sunday.”
Roth’s operation, like most in Iowa, is completely family-run with the work done by himself, his dad and occasional help from his brother or grandfather.
With such a small operation, Roth’s role is to haul grain in one of three semi trucks while his father runs the combine. The pair typically spends 12 hours a day out on the fields, running grain back to the elevator.
“Unloading one semi can be an hour and a half rotation. I don’t always have to be there as long as he can fill the semis, I can catch up quickly,” Roth said.
The entire harvest process takes just over a month, and Roth had to learn how to balance college course load and farm work.
“It’s been really hard because my assignments are due Sunday night. I usually do them right when they are due,” Roth said.
While Roth’s grades haven’t been negatively impacted, he claims it gives him more stress than needed, finishing work right on the deadline.
While managing both school work and the farm, Roth has found that it has set him up for success. Having a background in farming, Roth is now majoring in agronomy with the hope of one day taking over the family farm.
“Farming has developed my hands-on skills. Now in college, I knew that if I put my mind to it, I could be successful for the future in the field of agronomy,” Roth said.
