Late spring in wheat country can be beautiful, with vast rolling hills of lush green grain. Summer will turn these fields into the classic 'amber waves of grain' by mid-July, when harvest begins.Dick Hastings is one of a long line of Hastings to farm in the hills overlooking the Snake River north of Pomeroy, Washington.
A combine is harvesting wheat. Modern combines have air conditioning and GPS, but the work is still dirty, dusty, and tedious. Tiffany Struthers helps with the harvest at the family farm off Highway 124, near the town of Prescott, Washington.
Depending on local conditions, wheat straw is sometimes left in the field to help retain soil and moisture, burned to help reduce pests, or baled and used for other purposes.Wheat harvest is hot, dusty work, often involving long hours. Here, Nick Hastings uses an air compressor to clean his combine for the evening.
LEFT: Wheat is loaded for the long haul to the grain terminal. RIGHT: Grain is unloaded at Tri Cities Grain terminal. The wheat will be stored in tall storage silos, or in large outdoor piles, until it can be processed and sent to market.
Tri-Cities Grain serves as a major collection and distribution hub for grain destined for both domestic and international markets. All through harvest season, as many as thirty trucks per hour unload the grain collected from around the Columbia Basin and surrounding areas.Some of the grain bound for overseas markets begins its journey down the Columbia River via barges. Here, a barge takes on a load at Tri-Cities Grain, near the confluence of the Snake River and Columbia River in Pasco.The Hastings family has been farming on several thousand acres perched above the Snake River since before Washington became a state in 1889. All of the kids help out from a very early age, and the harvest is carried out almost entirely with help from the family. FROM LEFT: Dick Hastings, Josh, Mike (holding Comet, the dog), Mindy, Justin, Nick, and Heather.Late season thunderstorms in July and August pose a threat to wheat farmers. Hail can damage the crop, making it hard to harvest, and lightning often starts fires in the dry wheat, which can destroy a whole season’s worth of work overnight.A farmer near Steptoe Butte north of Colfax, Washington plants the seeds for next year’s crop in September, hoping for enough moisture over the winter to bring the plants to germination.George Struthers continues to farm on land that has been worked by his family for over 100 years.The beauty of wide open spaces is one of the intangible rewards of farm life.
Photographer’s statement:
When I first moved to the Tri Cities from western Washington 40 years ago, it took a while to get used to the landscapes here. The water, trees, and snowcapped mountains that I’d grown up with all seemed to be in short supply.
It was on a drive to Dayton, through the rolling hills of wheat country, that I first discovered the beauty of eastern Washington. The lush green of April wheat fields, with cottonball clouds against crisp blue skies, held an appeal that persists to this day.
In the years since that first encounter, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some of the families that farm these hills, and spend some time with them, photographing the harvest season. I hope you enjoy the images I’ve brought back.
