'Harvest comes first': Ontario farmers log extra hours and work into the night during fall grain harvest

Ontario farmers are logging extra hours, as they work into the night during the fall grain harvest.

Farmers don’t have the luxury of clocking in and clocking out at the end of a typical ‘workday’, according to Leo Guilbeault.

“We only have so many days to do this,” Guilbeault told CTV News during an evening of combining soybeans in St. Joachim, just outside of Windsor, Ont.

Guilbeault started combining beans at 11 a.m. and didn’t quit until 1 a.m. because the conditions were perfect, he said.

“Tonight, there's a nice breeze, so things are staying nice and dry. We're going to go as long as we can tonight to refill all our wagons,” he said. “Once the wagons are full, we'll call it a night.”

Guilbeault and his son don’t even stop to unload beans from the combine, perfecting the in-field unload.

Essex County farmer, Leo Guilbeault, unloads his soybeans ‘on the fly’ while continuing to harvest. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

“You work with the weather and Mother Nature is the ultimate boss in farming,” said Guilbeault.

At the time of the interview, there was no rain in the forecast for 10 straight days, so Guilbeault was hopeful to get much of his 1,100 acres of beans harvested.

He noted even if there was rain in the forecast, they won’t quit combining until the rain starts to fall.

“You make the rain chase you out of the field,” said Guilbeault. “Harvest comes first.”

Guilbeault was interviewed ahead of the Thanksgiving weekend, knowing where their dinner will be held.

“We always have Thanksgiving dinner on the tailgate of the pickup in the field,” said Guilbeault. “Not too many years we got to eat Thanksgiving at home.”

Grain farmers will work through the night, harvesting their crops before the winter weather. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

He said they have missed plenty of holidays, family events and even funerals because of the harvest.

“My son's got a wedding, (but) his wife's going to a wedding this weekend by herself because he's going to be staying here,” said Guilbeault, noting the only wedding he’d attend during harvest is his kids, but quips “they know better than to get married during harvest time.”

Soybeans vs. corn

Guilbeault explained that the soybean harvest can’t start until the morning dew wears off and will have to end if the evening dew sets in.

“You're putting the whole plant through the combine. So, when it gets wet because of the dew, it doesn't thrash as well; it doesn't go through the combine as well (and) the combine has to work harder,” said Guilbeault.

Leo Guilbeault is a grain farmer in St. Joachim, Ont. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

Corn, on the other hand, they can combine at any time, regardless of moisture.

“You're only swallowing the cob (of corn), you're not swallowing the whole plant, so there's not as much plant going through the combine,” said Guilbeault.

“We can run 24 hours a day. Or as long as your wagons or semi-trucks hold out. Once they're full, you’re done.”