MOUNT VERNON — City folks who think sandwich bread comes from white, wheat and rye trees had a chance to learn the real deal Sunday afternoon at the Knox County Fair. While some fair goers cheered harness racing sulkies and kids of all ages took in the midway rides and games, others caught a hay wagon ride back in time to an old-fashioned wheat-threshing demonstration.
Grain has been a dietary staple around the world for as long as the human race has been gathering food, and the “thrashing” process has come a long way. The primitive method of whacking wheat stalks against stones to separate grain and chaff has evolved to today’s massive farm combines, which in a matter of hours do harvesting work that once took many days. Skilled combine operators can make quick work of large fields without ever breaking a sweat in their air-conditioned cabs, but it hasn’t always been so easy.
There were quite a few steps on the way to today’s state-of-the-art threshing, and Sunday’s demonstration by members of the Kokosing Valley Antique Tractor Club offered a snapshot in time of farming around the World War II era. The process at that time was only partially mechanized, so in 90-degree weather some of the steps took on a definite appearance of work.
The focal point of the demonstration was a well-worn 1935 thresher manufactured by the Keck-Gonnerman Co. of Mount Vernon, Indiana. The unit has no power source of its own, and was driven by a wide, 100-foot belt run off a tractor PTO, in this case a nicely restored 1946 John Deere D.
Ned Brokaw, who has lived his entire life on a 100-acre family farm near Fredericktown, explained why the floppy drive belt is so long.
“It allows room to maneuver a hay wagon between the tractor and thresher,” Brokaw explained. He said it also has to do with safety, as it would be dangerous to have sparks around flying grain and dust.
Wheat stalks were fed into the thresher the hard way, by pitchfork, but the machine took over from there. As the wheat ran along a conveyor into the threshing mechanism, grain was shaken free of the stalks, separated, and fed through a chute into a waiting trailer. The thresher even calculated the number of bushels produced as it worked.
2012 Knox County Fair Schedule
Trail City 4X4 Day
8:30 A.M. Gates Open
10:00 A.M. AG Museum Opens
1:00 P.M. Rides Open
3:00 P.M. Open Class Sheep Show OSB Immediately following open class sheep show. Knox County Lamb Cook-Off (tasting to follow judging)
4:00 P.M. All Knox County Youth Choir
5:00 P.M. Rides Close
6:00 P.M. Rides Open
6:00 P.M. All Knox County Youth Choir
7:00 P.M. Rough Truck
7:30 P.M. Toby May Band
Ohio Rental Day& Lew’s Truck & Equipment Repair Day
8:30 A.M. Gates Open
9:00 A.M. Draft Horse Halter Classes
9:00 A.M. Draft Pony Halter Classes
10:00 A.M. AG Museum Opens
10:00 A.M. Senior Citizen Day Event
11:00 A.M. Artistic Flower Show
11:00 A.M. Old Time Threshing at the Fair (Shuttles will provide a ride to destination)
3:00 – 10:00 P.M. Indian Artifact Display
3:00 P.M. All Knox County Youth Choir
4:00 P.M. Antique Tractor Parade
5:00 P.M. Rides Close
6:00 P.M. Rides Open
6:00 P.M. All Knox County Youth Choir
7:00 P.M. Antique Tractor Pull
7:00 P.M. (Approx) Figure 8 School Bus & Figure 8 Truck Racing
7:30 P.M. Autumn Daze
Central Ohio Farmers Co-op Day
8:30 A.M. Gates Open
9:00 A.M. Heart of Ohio Angus Show
10:00 A.M. AG Museum Opens
1:00 P.M. Rides Open
1:00 P.M. Open Beef Show
3:00 – 10:00 P.M. Indian Artifact Display
3:00 P.M. All Knox County Youth Choir
5:00 P.M. Rides Close
5:00 P.M. All Knox County Youth Choir
6:00 P.M. Rides Open
6:30 P.M. Lawn Mower Racing
8:30 P.M. Thompson Square
Movers and Shuckers, LLC
8:00 A.M. Release Time for Still Exhibits until 1:00 P.M.
8:30 A.M. Gates Open
10:00 A.M. AG Museum Opens
10:00 A.M. Youth Games
10:00 A.M. Open Class Hog Weigh-In
12:00 Noon Youth Bicycle Drawing
1:00 P.M. Terminal Market Hog Show
1:00 P.M. Rides Open
1:00 P.M. Pedal Tractor Pull
3:00 – 10:00 P.M. Indian Artifact Display
5:00 P.M. Team Penning
5:00 P.M. Rides Close
6:00 P.M. Rides Open
7:00 P.M. Open to the World & O.S.T.P.A. Truck & Tractor Pull
7:00 P.M. J and E Band
