4
Wednesday, June 15, 1977
University Daily Kansan
It's been a hard day's night and I've been working like a dog. . .
But when I get home to you . .
You'll make me feel alright . .
John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Steve Lekler began his summer in the dusty flattlands of Oklahoma and he'll gradually travel north through the Great Plains.
"If you like to work outdoors, it's a great way to spend the summer," the Ness City junior said, describing his summer job on a harvest crew, now in north-central Oklahoma.
Wheat grown farther south is ready to cut earlier than wheat grown in more northern states. As the crew moves north to follow the harvests, a full summer's work becomes a way of toning up muscles and getting a tan. according to Leiker.
But the job has a drawback for him.
"One thing I don't like about my job is that I don't get to see my girl friend for a while," he said. "When I get home it's great to see her."
Barring rain, seven-day work weeks beginning at 8:30 a.m. are the norm for Leker. The crew first greases the compaction equipment and filters before the machines so to the fields.
Loker drives a truck to make six or seven wheat deliveries into nearby Billings, Okla., each day. Combines load the trucks with other vehicles and add up to about 10 tons on each delivery.
Driving a truck on hills is difficult, Leiker said.
"If you kill the engine, the brakes won't hold on a slope," he said. "You roll backwards until you hit something. I've only killed it once, pulling out of a river bed. Finally got her stopped five feet short of a 20-foot drow-off."
Harvest work is dirty, hard and sometimes back-breaking. Around Billinas, the temperature often ranges from 80 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. You can't make the job suited for only the strong.
Weather is an important element that can affect the day the wheat is cut and influences the financial success of the harvest. We also need to support their wages, regardless of the weather.
Wheat that isn't sufficiently dry is green and is undesirable because it's hard to handle and can spice in the elevator. If bread is needed to dry too long, the kernels will crack.
When the crew finishes about 10 p.m. on the beach, they move to the boat's hook-tail to escape the beat and talk
Leiker will study engineering when he returns to the University of Kansas. Maybe someday he'll be designing the machines he spent hours on . . . filling the wheat.
Story by
David Alford
Photos by
Eli Reichman
Following the Wheat
Standing on top of a truckload of prime Oklahoma wheat, Steve Leker, Ness City, junior has undertaken a summer adventure. Steve is working on a wheat harvest crew that began its long journey in Billings, Okla. and will finish in Rushville, Neb., by mid-August. The crew is nibbled "Stinkable Bunnies."
The crew is out in the fields by 8:30 a.m. From then on it is non-stop until 10 or 11 at night. Lekler's extra jobs include gassing and gasing the combines every morning
After loading the truck with wheat, Lekker covers it with a tarpaulin of the wheat is lost on the journey to town. Lekker ties down the cover on one truck, and a combine truck with more wheat.
After working for 10 hours straight in temperatures in the upper 90s, Leiker takes a little time out to rest. The combines keep rolling.
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