My soul was content last night as I drove to the field loaded up with a hot meal and eager to see my long-lost farmer. I couldn’t go more than a mile or two without exchanging a smile and wave with another person doing their harvest duty; whether it be another wife delivering meals, a highschool student in a grain cart, or the farmer in his combine. It doesn’t matter if you know them or not. You can still expect the same treatment. Almost like a comradery. Those same people would drop what they were doing in a heartbeat to help a neighbor. And they have.

It was May 2008 and my husband was fresh out of highschool. Born and raised farm boy but had never been in charge until now. As if losing his father in a car wreck wasn’t bad enough, then the entire weight of harvest was on his shoulders. An 18 year old kid had the responsibility of an entire farm on him at the busiest time of year on top of dealing with an incredible loss.

The neighbors came together and helped them finish cutting wheat without thinking twice. They sacrificed their time, diesel fuel, and equipment to help a fellow neighbor in a time of need and asked nothing in return.

You see, they didn’t do this because we got lucky enough to have nice neighbors. This is the mentality of the farming community. I know not every single farmer is like this, but the majority are. They are used to having a pretty thankless job for everything they do. The Internet is filled with lies and hate towards us and what we do and farmers know that. But still they keep going because they know they are making a difference in feeding the world. It takes a special person to do that.

I’m so grateful to know that should we ever need it, we wouldn’t even have to call on these people for help. They would be there in no time to do whatever they could. It makes me so proud that my family gets to be a part of this community and experience this kind of friendship. And I hope my neighbors know that we would be there for them in a heartbeat also.