Aug 18, 2008 - 10:05:26 CDT
The wheat coming off the field had everyone smiling."It's the kind of crop you get every 12 years or so an excellent crop," said Norman Fleck, who watched the combine make another circuit of the field east and north of McIntosh, S.D.
The farmer was watching from a special chair anchored to the floor of a rented van. Last spring, after spending a couple of days seeding, Fleck jumped on an ATV to check on some cattle. He got going too fast, flipped it and suffered a spinal cord injury. That was April 14.
He was out of the hospital on Sunday on a day pass to watch volunteers from Farm Rescue help bring in what everyone expects to be an excellent wheat crop.
Corey Fleck, who farms with his dad, Norman, says the quality seems to be good, but he wouldn't guess the yield. Too much is at stake to risk jinxing it.
Friends and family had a great help this summer, said Corey Fleck, "but I felt like I was spinning my wheels."
There's a small window when the wheat and weather converge for combining to get the best result. With one Farm Rescue volunteer, Lowell Rothman of Washburn, at the helm of the combine, and Smoky Wright hauling the harvested grain to the elevator, the job was getting done at the right time. The Flecks weren't the only farmers trying to get their wheat in this weekend. Wright said the wait at the elevator was more than two hours on Saturday.
Farm Rescue also had another crew working in the Washburn area.
"It makes me feel good to help these folks out," said Wright, who worked for the Department of Defense for 30 years and also farmed.
Norman Fleck's pretty glad to have help from Wright and Rothman. The Fleck harvest is a week or two behind, and having another machine in the field makes a lot of difference, he said.
The Flecks are from Flasher, and this wheat field is a long way from home. Norman's wife, Gerry, and Corey's family, wife, Dawn, Amanda, 17, Brett, 11 and Emalee, 9, had a lunch ready for the volunteers, although it was hard to get them stop the combine long enough to eat it.
"If I was running that machine, I wouldn't want to stop, either,"Norman Fleck said.
Farm Rescue, based in Jamestown, will be working the Flecks' fields for about a week, said Christina Hood, director of operations for the nonprofit, which pitches in for injured or ill farmers when it comes to getting a crop in or off. Generally, Farm Rescue, through it's sponsors and donations, provides the equipment and volunteers to operate it. The farmers provide fuel and, in the spring, seed.
The Washburn crew, she said, would likely be going to the Denholff area. She stressed the importance of sponsors like RDO Equipment and Stan Puklich Chevrolet in providing equipment to harvest or haul equipment from one site to the next.
Norman Fleck has one more week in Medcenter One and then he begins rehab. He can move his legs and arm a little.
"They said give it a year and see what happens,"Norman Fleck said. "Good things have been happening."
For more information about Farm Rescue, go to www.farmrescue.org.
Online Editor wrote on Aug 18, 2008 9:45 AM:
correction wrote on Aug 18, 2008 9:30 AM:
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