Combine with soybean head and filled to the brim with soybeans

Soybeans are just about half of our operation, so we’ll be busy with that for a few weeks now. Normally, the soybeans are harvested first and on Wednesday we started the process of combining beans.

I drove through Indiana this week and corn harvest was definitely underway down there. It was very exciting to see all the combines and trucks running around. (And, don’t worry, I slowed down and even pulled over when I came up to a combine on the road!)

However, just because we weren’t harvesting the whole week doesn’t mean it wasn’t an exciting week. One of the lesser discussed aspects of farming is really the danger. I’ve posted a lot of photos of the equipment we have, including the combine above. Inside there are a lot of small working pieces and it wouldn’t take a whole lot for a finger or a shirt tail to get caught into a piece of the equipment and be gone before you know it.

But the smaller tools can also be dangerous. Just ask my dad.

He’s had his share of injuries. Power washer into your thumb? Apple tree limbs fall on your shoulder? Jump off the tractor a little too high and a little too hard?

Those hurt.

This week he had the chainsaw out to cut up some wood for our wood burner (which now heats the barn, as well as the house). As he was standing on a pile of wood, cutting through a piece, the chainsaw slipped. He managed to cut through his boot, socks, and got a nasty scratch on his foot.

Nasty chainsaw cut

Chainsaw hole