It's the busiest, and some say the best, time of year for farmers in our region, since harvest time means they can see the fruits of their long year of laboring in the field. And that's why this is so unusual.
A group of farmers from around the Finley, North Dakota area abandoned their fields for one day to be somewhere else during harvest time.
It's one of the few days we've had this season that hasn't been ruined for harvest by rain, fog, and other problems.
As soon as they saw it was going to be a beautiful day to work, some thirty or so farmers took to their neighbors' fields, because this year, he'll be missing the harvest.
Brad Lundstrom grew up on this land, like his dad before him, and his dad's dad before him, but this is the first year brad's been in charge of it all.
After forty years of faithfully harvesting his land, the longtime "lead man" of the farm, Bruce, found out three weeks before the harvest he has acute leukemia and it's that thought, that has brought their longtime friends and neighbors out while he is in the hospital.
With fourteen combines in one field, the work of weeks will take only a day. It's hard to say what is for harder for them; the work, or working without Brad's dad.
But in a region where everyone's a friend to everyone else, there's only one thing Brad's dad needs to work on, now; getting well and getting home.
Brad Lundstrom says his dad Bruce is staying at Meritcare's Roger Maris Cancer Center while he's undergoing chemotherapy treatments for his acute Leukemia.
He says his dad sends out emails every morning and if he needs advice on the harvest, he's just a cell phone call away.
If you'd like to get involved in helping folks like Bruce, we've got 61 for 61 coming up soon. I've answered phones to take pledges and it's a great way to meet the doctors and the cancer survivors who are beating cancer one day at a time.
