Don Keesling has lived through 80 Kansas wheat harvests, and he remembers when harvest was a full-family operation—kids hauling water, older siblings driving trucks, and every load requiring real muscle. In this special episode, Don and host Aaron Harries walk through how wheat harvest used to work, the machinery transitions that changed everything, and why the culture of neighbors helping neighbors feels different today.
Don also shares his decades promoting wheat—especially hard white winter wheat—where taste tests and proof mattered more than talking points. From wheat varieties like Jagger to lessons from the Dust Bowl and the long road to conservation practices like no-till, Don’s stories connect Kansas wheat history to the realities farmers face now: tight margins, changing programs, and the need for practical skills (and a little WD-40).
