HUSA Oct 2 2026 – Harvest Updates

Welcome to the Harvest USA Report, I’m Brian Hale. An original production of Howard Hale Broadcasting, now expanded throughout North America. The Nebraska Department of Agriculture reminds us that October is Squirrel Awareness Month, a time to thank our furry little friends.

While they may get in your way on the road sometimes, and even in the field, they are a vital part of our ecosystem. Squirrels help plant new trees when they forget where they buried their stash of nuts, and when they dig in their dirt, they loosen the soil, which allows for water and nutrients to spread. Hale Harvesting’s getting busy swathing Proso Millet, and they ask, so why do we do it? This right here is why.

The photo shows that these little round white balls on the ground are Proso Millet seeds that were knocked off the top of the plants before the field was swathed. Those seeds cannot be recovered, ever. You’d have to harvest the field with a vacuum cleaner to pick them up.

This damage is from a combination of hail and hard rain, and it is the reason Proso Millet is swathed instead of being straight cut. For more about swathing, visit Hale Harvesting LLC, or find them on our Facebook page at Harvest USA Report. Did you know in 1917, former Iowa jeweler Otto Frederick Roeder invented the first bread slicing machine to slice loaves evenly.

His first version burned in a factory fire in 1917. Then in 1927, he developed a second version. In 1928, the Missouri Chilikoff Baking Company marketed the first sliced loaf to the public using Roeder’s machine.

Wonder Bread popularized sliced packaged bread nationwide in 1930. Learn more about wheat and bread at okwheat.org. That’s going to do it for today’s report. Thanks again for listening, and may God bless.

I’m Brian Hale.