The U.S. Custom Harvesters Hall of Fame

INDUCTEES OF USCHI HALL OF FAME

Gerry Rattei - (2019)

Gerry Rattei was born July 23rd, 1944 to Fred and Austie Rattei in Napoleon, North Dakota. Growing up in a poor family, barely making ends meet, Gerry left home on his own to help support his family at the young age of 13. He worked for a local farmer where he drove his first combine.

Growing up, Gerry worked several jobs around Napoleon. He was the school bus driver for the Napoleon School District before accepting a job as the fuel truck driver for Farmers Union Oil Company in Napoleon.

Despite not attending college, Gerry was incredibly business savvy. At the young age of 22, Gerry started his own custom harvesting business. His first combine, was a CASE 1060 with a 14' header and the machine had no cab.

As a young boy, he had been inspired by a custom harvester from Kansas who used to combine their fields. Since he was five years old, he knew custom harvesting was what he wanted to do. For his inaugural run south, Gerry travelled as far as the Oklahoma/Kansas state line. He would cut his way back North working in Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

His first year of custom harvesting was a success. With the money he earned, he leased some land and started farming around Napoleon.

As the years went by, Gerry earned more and more business. Farmers were impressed with his work and word of mouth spread like wildfire. Over time, he expanded his fleet from one combine to five combines and started travelling even farther south, cutting down in Abilene, Texas, as far West as Colorado Springs and even harvesting into parts of southern Canada.

Eventually, the agriculture scene started to evolve in North Dakota. Farmers back home were starting to plant more varieties of crops such as sunflowers, corn, and soybeans. That variety provided more work for Gerry and his crew in North Dakota. In addition to Gerry's clientele starting to reach retirement age, it made the decision to do more custom harvesting around North Dakota rather easy.

As his children started to get older, they started to help with the harvest. His oldest child, Todd, would help plant crops in early spring and oversee the spraying during the summer. Todd also helped drive the combines, unload trucks, and move equipment from field to field. When his youngest daughter, Rebecca, was old enough to drive, Gerry taught her how to run the grain cart at age 12. His wife, Mary, managed the farm while he was gone. She did everything from mow, rake and bale the ditches, fix fence, feed the cattle, manage the bookkeeping, help transport equipment from field to field, and prepare meals for the crew.

Despite changes in technology, Gerry evolved with the times. Although he does not own a smartphone, Gerry knows his John Deere S-Series combine inside and out. He's not afraid to hop out of his air-conditioned cab to wrench on the header or get underneath his machines to tinker.

Despite the fact that he keeps busy before the sun rises and works late into the moonlight, Gerry is also one of the first people in his community to help a farmer when they are down. In the summer of 2016, Gerry was one of the first people to show up to the farm yard of a farmer who had received some nasty damage from a strong summer storm. He hopped into his loader tractor and started helping clear the damage. When Napoleon wanted to tear down an old, condemned building and build a new restaurant in its place, Gerry used his own equipment and tore down the building for free, saving the community thousands of dollars.

Despite being gone much of the summer, he still found time to serve on the Glendale Township board for many years. He also served on his parish church board and was heavily active with the local Farmers Union group in Napoleon.

Gerry could often times could be heard on national radio stations. He never called in to those agricultural shows instead, they called him for his insight and agricultural updates in North Dakota.

Lately, Gerry has been contemplating retirement. He has been telling family, friends, clientele and his crew that "this is one of my last years," however he has been saying that for nearly 10 years.

He truly loves harvesting and has often said that he has never worked a day in his life because if you love what you do, it's not truly work.

Click here to read "My Harvest Prayer" by Gerry Rattei (PDF)

Gerry Rattei