Total miles we covered in three days was 1040 miles to see how harvest was progressing.  Left Paynesville, went through Elbow Lake, MN and then into ND, through Hankinson, Ellendale, Ashley, Wishek, Napoleon, Bismarck, Minot, Rugby, Devils Lake.  Then south to New Rockford, Jamestown, SE to Lisbon, and E to Wahpeton/ Breckenridge MN and south to Herman, Morris, and back to Paynesville.  Stayed one night in Bismarck, one night in Devils Lake.

In my estimation, there was about 35% of the soybeans to be combined yet, and about 40% of the corn, and about 40% of the sunflowers, yet to be harvested.  In the Wahpeton/ Hankinson areas there were sugar beets that had to be lifted yet.  I would say maybe 10%.  This area is very, very wet. 

What was very interesting, and a surprise to me, was the high percent of John Deere combines we saw in the fields.  I would say 85% were JD combines, 10% red, Case-IH, and the other 5 % were yellow in color.  I am not trying to start a "color war" here, but the JD dealers have really done a job of selling combines in ND.  There were fields where the tractors on the grain carts and tillage equipment  were either red, blue or yellow, but the combines most often were John Deere.