The annual migration of wheat harvest crews is underway from south to north. And DuPont Crop Protection is taking growers and others behind the scenes of one of agriculture’s most traditional and essential events.

This summer, two custom-harvesting crews will spend seven weeks harvesting wheat from Texas to South Dakota as part of the “All Aboard 2009 Wheat Harvest” tour sponsored by DuPont Crop Protection and High Plains Journal. The tour will track harvest progress through a daily blog and on Twitter, giving people across the globe an opportunity to interact with this season’s U.S. wheat harvest in real time.

Two harvesting crews, Hoffman Harvesting, based in Bowdle, SD, and Zeorian Harvesting, based in Manley, NE, are working their way from Texas to North Dakota and Montana. Harvesting stops along the way will include Olney, TX; Kiowa, Pratt, Colby and Goodland, KS; Seiling and Elk City, OK; Limon, CO; Gettysburg, Faulkton, Bowdle and Aberdeen, SD; LaMoure, Jamestown and Rocklake, ND; and Jordan, MT. Site updates will be posted on the tour’s Web site. Tour correspondents include members of the Hoffman and Zeorian family harvesting businesses.

They play an integral part in just about every element of custom-harvesting operations, including driving equipment between fields, cooking, handling laundry and communications duties. The harvest-tour blog will also share crop news, weather reports and wheat industry and crop production information.

“Custom harvesting is a unique, vital part of our wheat industry,” says Marty Wojcik, cereal herbicide portfolio manager, DuPont Crop Protection. “We thought it would be interesting not only to follow the agricultural progress and report on important crop-protection news, but also to meet the people who play a key role in harvesting wheat for the world.”

Follow the tour on the Web site and sign up for blog updates via e-mail. Twitter subscribers can track the tour.