Harvest season comes with helping hands

Luke Eide Columnist

 

 Harvesting, the time of the year when farmers are avidly trying to get crops out and end the agricultural year on a high note. It’s the time of the year when everyone is ready for the summer season to end and the fall season to start. Although the cooler temperatures may have started a little too early, it looks like the rest of the week’s weather will be more fall-like and more desirable. Harvesting is also the time of the year when that sigh of relief is finally taken as farmers combine corn after they’ve dreaded seeing its dry suffering these past two years.

I love the harvest season. I love driving truck along the side of the silage cutter as my grandpa chops away. I find it quite extraordinary how far agriculture has developed in time and how we are able to farm more, harvest more and feed more compared to what we’ve ever been able to. Not being part of it as much as what I once was is truthfully disappointing. Maybe it’s that satisfaction a person gets after completing a field and emptying that final truckload of silage, then starting up the next day looking back at the progress that’s been made. It’s a great feeling and it shows on a local and national scale that hard work, time and effort in completing the harvest season have been well worth it.

This harvest season has been different, however. Recently, I’ve been hearing stories about how the weather this past week has really put a damper on things, and I completely empathize with all of the local farmers around Brookings. It really is one of the hardest parts of the year and so many things can go wrong, from breakdowns to inclement weather. However, if there’s anything I’ve learned in the years that I’ve worked and drove truck for our operation is that things work out eventually and that the hard moments are just temporary.

The other day I viewed a news story about a local farmer who recently died in a farming accident. Then farmers came from over thirty miles away just to finish harvesting his final crop that was still left out in the fields. Over 25 John Deere combines and grain trucks rushed over to help contribute in finishing the project and by the grace of God the project was completed. This true story just goes to show that during times of hardship, we can still make it through any rough patch throughout the agricultural year or even our lives. It also goes to show that by helping others out in times of need and hardship, any task is accomplishable. We sometimes take for granted that the agricultural Midwest is a very helpful place where neighbors and farmers can come together to help each other out in getting through any season.

Remember that if you see people struggling, help them out. Don’t be afraid to make a difference in their lives no matter how small and I promise you that you’ll be glad you did. So to conclude I would just like to wish all of the farmers still out in the fields this week the very best of luck and keep making America proud.

Luke Eide is majoring in agricultural business. He can be reached at [email protected]