Some clouds. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Some clouds. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.

The harvest is always such a special time of year, and for many reasons.

While it’s still a season of worry and hoping everything holds together — and that crops will yield as hoped — it is a time to enjoy the fruits of a year’s labors.

The near-flawless harvest of 2021 was seasoned with enjoyment, and a dash of soul-stirring as we moved our equipment from field to field.

We learned that year that a piece of ground we farmed would be sold. And so began the process of letting go of it. First, emotionally; then physically.

It’s amazing how a farm family connects to a piece of land. Dirt. Earth. They get to know it, care for it, and in turn, it takes care of them.

In this instance, that field had been part of our family’s farm story for the previous 20 years. Our kids grew up knowing which field the “Highway Farm” was; and because it was (obviously) located along a busy highway, it gave plenty of drivers a firsthand look at my attempt to top off a trailer in my first year of operating the grain cart.

There was such a nice, neat, large pile of corn on the ground next to the truck.

My husband cringed. Everyone would see.

Side note:  A few people learned lessons with that load. I learned you have to accommodate for the auger to empty out while deciding that the truck is full; the truck driver learned how to disguise a heavy load; and my husband learned that someone else should probably be in charge of topping off trucks.

That field was part of the fabric of fields that gave my family plenty of opportunity to work together, and was one of the fields which fueled our two sons’ desire to farm. Our kids picked up rock there, walked beans, worked together with many different people and shared stories and laughs with them, learned to transport and operate field equipment as they grew up, and even learned a lucky lesson early on about paying attention while driving young, as most farm kids do.

I have a broken and twisted metal hitch in my office from one day’s happenings to remind me that God does indeed watch out for us.

It was one of the fields that allowed my husband to realize his own dream to farm. As all young farmers do, he needed someone to place their trust in him and give him a chance to prove himself. We owe those families a debt of gratitude for allowing that farm to be part of our farm story, and for letting our children grow up in the rows and stories of that field.

This past October we took the last crop of soybeans out of that field that would be ours. Next year the grain will belong to someone else.

I took some video of my husband driving the combine down the very last pass, and wondered what he was thinking and feeling … but imagining that I knew.

I sent the video snippet to our family text message thread saying, “Last pass forever. Dad has farmed this field for 20 years. It’s been a good run.”

It sparked a sharing of memories from the kids, as they shared and said they had also thought about that as they drove by the field that day while we were working.

There were many educational moments cultivated in that field, not to mention the memories of people and times-gone-by, both good and bad, as that last pass of soybeans was swallowed up by the combine.

Times shared in that field now rest quietly in the annals of our family’s farming history.

Anyone who has rented farm land knows all good things can eventually come to an end. First, farmers ‘land’ a piece of ground to farm; and after years of caring for it, raising and teaching kids on it, earning a living and growing older on it, there comes a time to ‘land’ again — to descend, to put into port, to drop anchor. In our case, at least for that field.

Time stops for no one, and nothing lasts forever. But we are grateful for the 20 years we had there to expand our farm story, and to help raise and teach our children about the lessons and responsibilities that can only be learned on the farm.

Those lessons last a lifetime.

Karen Schwaller brings “Table Talk” to The Land from her home near Milford, Iowa. She can be reached at kschwaller@evertek.net.

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