By Jennifer Whitlock
Field Editor

It’s been a great year for many corn farmers in Central Texas.

Some, like McLennan County Farm Bureau board member Shana Wiethorn, might even say the best year yet.

“The 2021 corn crop is actually some of the best we’ve ever seen. We’ve had some really good rain in the past couple of years, but this actually hit at the right exact times where it needed to hit throughout the growing season,” she said. “Our crop was consistent, which is not usually the case. Normally, you have dry parts of a field, wet parts of the field, parts of the field that got either too much fertilizer, not enough or that got washed away. So, it’s very, very, very good this year. And prices are good, to boot.”

Having a bountiful corn harvest feels like a blessing after the freezing weather at the beginning of the year. But it’s not all smooth sailing just because the crop looks good.

More rain brings more weed and disease pressure. And it’s often a race against the clock to apply herbicides or pesticides when rain is in the forecast.

The Wiethorns made it work, though, and they’re harvesting the benefits of a wet summer.

But harvest has brought its share of struggles. Several breakdowns caused delays for the couple.

“Our combine broke down a couple of days ago, and we’ve been down for three days because we had to order a part,” she said. “It’s not very fun to work on a tractor in the middle of the field with no wind, blaring-down sun and 110-degree heat. But it has to be done.”

She sounds like a seasoned farmer, but Wiethorn doesn’t have a farm background.

Her passion for farming grew from being introduced to agriculture as a child on her grandparents’ South Dakota farm and showing livestock through 4-H and FFA.

It blossomed while she was attending Tarleton State University, where she met her now-husband, Brad.

His family has been farming in Central Texas for almost 100 years, after his great-grandfather purchased his first tractor as a replacement for two mules and began growing more crops.

Now, the couple works together alongside Brad’s father and brothers to grow wheat and corn in the fertile soils of McLennan County.

“It’s early mornings, late nights. I come and run the combine while Brad takes a truckload of corn to the elevator. Once I married him, I learned how to work every single piece of equipment,” she said.

The days are long, but the years are short. It’s been 13 years since she first came to the farm. Although Wiethorn said she wouldn’t have it any other way, being a farm wife is not always easy or fun.

“Farming takes a lot of hours. It’s a lot of being away from each other, too, because if he doesn’t need me, I’m at home. I’m doing laundry. I’m cleaning the house. I’m making meals. I’m bringing lunches out here. I’m going to the grocery store. I’m getting our kid ready for school,” she said. “I’m doing all those things, and so it is a lot of teamwork. Brad is the farmer, but I’ve got to be able to do the outside stuff, too.”

But at the end of the day—even one of the longest ones—she’s grateful for what they’ve built together and the life they have. She just wishes more consumers understood the passion and motivation farm families like hers have for growing food and caring for the land.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there about farmers right now. Farmers have become ‘the enemy’ on a lot of social media and news networks. But if people don’t live the life, they just don’t know. They don’t see that we’re not using tons of pesticides,” she said. “I just want them to know that we are hardworking people. My husband did say at one point in time to me, ‘I could go make money doing something else not working this hard.’ But what else would we do, really? We love this life. It’s a great life, and I’m so happy we get to raise our son in this environment.”

Click here to watch a video of harvest at the Wiethorns’ farm.