When the skies turned blue and Northeast Missouri dried out after weeks of rain, harvest time again descended on Gilbert Moss’ farm. The red combine crawled across the field, eating up rows of corn. The stalks shuddered and collapsed into the head. When the hopper got full, the combine pulled up next to the grain truck and the auger arm eased out. A stream of golden corn flowed like liquid into the truck below.
Moss shook hands and chatted with a visitor about the crop yields, then hopped into the truck and drove away with a full load. But the combine did not sit idly. Cindy Bontreger was driving, and she pointed the harvester toward the still standing corn to shell another load.
Bontreger and her family moved to the Monroe City area in March from northern Indiana. Her husband, Steve, works at a local RV service center. The couple has two kids, Stephanie, 6, and Justin, 3.
Moss is Bontreger’s closest neighbor, and he helped them get their house when they moved. Moss was looking for someone to run his combine, and Bontreger said she could do it.
Bontreger had no experience driving a combine, but she did have some farm experience. She grew up Amish and used to help an Amish farmer in Indiana. He farmed with horses, so driving big, modern farm machinery presented a new challenge.
“The first time I drove [the combine],” Bontreger says, “it was just, ‘Wow.’ You’re up so high.”
Fortunately, Moss is a good, patient teacher, Bontreger says. Plus Bontreger seems to be a natural at it. Or maybe she’s already had some of the skills training. She says you have to multitask and pay attention to a lot of things while driving the combine, things she also identifies as necessary skills for a mom.
The arrangement has worked out well for both. Besides making money, Bontreger gets to be out in nature and see the wildlife as she drives the combine. She especially loves seeing deer walking around the edges of the fields in the late afternoon and evening. She is looking forward to going deer hunting.
Moss, for his part, has the help he needs with the work of harvest, which is especially critical during this wet Fall.
“She’s been a Godsend,” Moss says. “She’s got a lot of talent. She sure has been a help, especially this year, the way it’s been.”
Rainy, muddy conditions have made this a difficult year to get the crops out. Fortunately, when things dry out, the combine can keep running even when Moss drives off in the truck with another load. Also, Moss and Bontreger have had better luck getting into the field than many area farmers, and yields have been good.
When harvest concludes and winter arrives, the Bontreger family plans to travel to Indiana to visit family for Christmas. Cindy says winters in northern Indiana are usually harsher and get more snow, but the family enjoys playing in the snow so the trip will come at a good time.
However, the Bontreger family likes the small town, country living of Monroe City after the comparatively crowded northern Indiana. Bontreger says it’s a good area for the family to live and work, even if the work is something new and different.
“We love it here,” Bontreger says. “We just wanted to get out in the country and enjoy the laid back lifestyle.”
By BENJAMIN HERROLD