At the National Farm Broadcasters Convention, Farm Director KC Sheperd spoke with Paul Paplow of U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. (USCHI), to discuss the dynamic, high-stakes life of custom harvesting and the critical role these mobile crews play in American agriculture.
Paplow’s own operation exemplifies the massive scale of the work, running a route that covers thousands of miles each season.
“My operation itself works from North Texas all the way up to the Canadian line through Montana, North Dakota, harvesting wheat, any pulse crops, specialty crops as mustard, canola, and corn and soybeans back in Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa,” Paplow explained.
A Good Year Despite Early Challenges
Reflecting on the harvest season, Paplow noted that despite some early difficulties, the overall outcome was positive.
“There was a lot of really good crops,” he confirmed.
The season started with a struggle in the Southern Plains: “We started out the year kind of a crop failure down in North Texas, Southern Oklahoma. Drought then it got too wet.” However, conditions improved dramatically further north. “After we hit Kansas, everything was good from there on out… the wheat crop was really good in Montana,” he said, adding that they had an “awesome soybean crop and corn crop” in the Midwest states.
Solving Farm Crises and Maximizing Uptime
One of the most vital services USCHI members provide is acting as an emergency backup for farm operations. When equipment fails or a farmer faces a personal crisis, custom harvesters step in to save the crop.
“If someone just needs someone to come in and fill out or fill in for a few days because they’re behind or they got a weather event coming, we have a lot of members, probably 500 members,” Paplow noted.
This large pool of operators allows them to mobilize massive firepower quickly.
“We can run one to probably 20 machines, so you can get a lot done in a short period of time,” he confirmed.
The Mobile Lifestyle and Recruitment
The custom harvester’s life is defined by constant movement, chasing the ripening crops across the Great Plains and Midwest. Paplow highlighted the necessity of a mobile home base.
“It doesn’t really matter where you live at, we all got travel trailers or stay in motels, so we just move our home base kind of everywhere that we’re going,” he said. “So every couple weeks in the summertime we’re moving… and setting up camp for another couple weeks and do it again a few weeks after that.”
For those interested in joining this unique and essential industry, USCHI serves as a recruitment hub, connecting potential crew members with harvesters who need labor.
“People want to do this job, they need to go to the USCHI website and there’s a form on there they can fill out to apply to go for a custom harvester. And harvesters are looking at that job board every day, so if they have positions or have needs, they’ll reach out to you.”
The association’s website is the best source for information on USCHI and its services.
