Harris Family Farm
Britt Harris is a 26-year-old farmer in his first year running a 3,000 acre farm with his grandfather and four farmhands in a constant race against time and unpredictable weather. This week, he harvests a soy bean crop as his wife, Reagan, prepares to return to work as a dental hygienist and transition daytime care for their two-month-old son, Henry, to Harris’s mother. After retiring at 65 from running Baker Implement Co., Jerry Paul Combs, Harris’s grandfather, initially purchased 300 acres of land to hobby farm. When Harris returned from South Eastern Missouri University with a degree in agriculture business, he was determined to become a farmer. Combs expanded to 3,000 acres and agreed to farm with his grandson until Harris could take over.
At the end of a work day, Britt Harris stands atop a rice bin overlooking harvested soy bean fields on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, at the Harris family farm in Kennett, Mo. Harris prides himself on being the first to plant and harvest, and, said of the farmers who made fun of his haste, “Come Thursday, we will look like the smartest sons of bitches out here because they are calling for rain all next week.”
From the center of the rice bin, Britt Harris takes a moisture sample on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, at a grain bin property in Kennett, Mo. Harris rotates his 3,000 acres of farm between rice and soy beans each year to maintain soil nutrients.
Britt Harris, center left, gives end of work day instructions to farm hands, from left to right, Bill Inman, John Young, Connor McElworth and Glen White on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 at a grain bin property in Kennett, Mo. Harris has worked this farm for five years, but at 26-years-old this is the first he has taken charge of four farm hands working the 3,000 acres, rotating between soy beans and rice.
Bill Inman, left, and Britt Harris, right, watch the last soy beans fall from the grain cart auger into a long haul truck in the last harvested field on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at Inman’s farm in Kennett, Mo. Harris had driven down Missouri Highway 412 in the rain with a sick feeling in his stomach, as the storm could cause a setback. Harris expressed great relief to emerge from the storm into a dry field where the combine was kicking out husks and dust.
Bill Inman, left, and Britt Harris, right, look over invoices for soy beans on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at a bin property in Kennett, Mo. Prices for grain and soy beans depend upon the moisture content: the optimal level is 13%.
As the work day comes to a close, Britt Harris, left, and Bill Inman, right, go separate ways to complete their last tasks on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at a bin property in Kennett, Mo. Harris said that Inman is glad to “retire” from farming full-time, electing to work part-time to only do what he enjoys most.
Britt Harris looks at the gages and dials of his long-haul truck after emptying its load of soy beans but became stuck on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at a grain bin property in Kennett, Mo. An air leak was found to be the issue and was fixed to get the truck back on the roads to transport a new load from the field.
Britt Harris, sitting at the head of the table, takes a break for lunch and converses with, from left to right, his wife Reagan; father, Paul; grandfather, Jerry; sister, Kayton; mother, Malinda; and two-month-old son, Henry, on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, at Bill’s Bar-B-Q in Kennett, Mo. Jerry started as a hobby farmer, his son Paul became a pharmacist and Britt could not be dissuaded from becoming a farmer as well.
Reagan Harris, left, watches as Britt Harris, right, comforts their two-month-old son, Henry, early in the morning on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, at their home in Kennett, Mo. This is Reagan’s last week of her two-month maternity leave before returning to work as a dental hygienist.
Britt Harris climbs out of a rice bin on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2024, at a bin property in Kennett, Mo. Harris tested the moisture content to ensure the conditions in the bin are optimal to predict the value of the grain for when it is sold at a later date.