Farm community rallies around injured friend

Dec 06, 2019

Volunteers harvested a 225-acre corn field in six hours

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A farmer from Goose Lake, Iowa is grateful for his community after fellow growers finished his grain harvest.

On Oct. 25, Perry Spain got his leg caught in an auger while cleaning a grain bin.

After seven operations in 14 days and eight surgeries in total at the University of Iowa Hospital, Spain had part of his leg amputated below the knee.

The operations left him unable to harvest his remaining 225 acres of corn.

That’s when other farmers in the community stepped up.

On Nov. 16, farmers and volunteers operated five combines with 12-row corn heads, 12 grain carts and 16 semis to complete Spain’s 2019 corn harvest in about six hours.

The outpouring of support from the other farmers is overwhelming, Spain said.

“It’s unbelievable and heartwarming and sometimes hard to find the words,” Spain told Farms.com. “I know they all had their own crops to finish harvesting, so for them to be so selfless and help me out was just a wonderful thing to see.”

Now on the road to recovery, Spain wants to spread a safety message to other farmers.

“Just because you do something a bunch of times doesn’t mean you should take it for granted,” he said. “It literally takes seconds (for an accident to happen) and your whole life can change.”

Though he missed out on finishing this year’s harvest, Spain already has his sights set on 2020.

The next step in the recovery process includes plastic surgery and eventually a prosthetic limb, which Spain hopes will be ready in time for planting season.

“That’s my main goal right now,” he said. “I’m not going to quit.”

Video: How farmers are protecting the soil and our food security | DW Documentary

For a long time, soil was all but ignored. But for years, the valuable humus layer has been thinning. Farmers in Brandenburg are clearly feeling the effects of this on their sandy fields. Many are now taking steps to prepare their farms for the future.

Years of drought, record rainfall and failed harvests: we are becoming increasingly aware of how sensitively our environment reacts to extreme weather conditions. Farmers' livelihoods are at stake. So is the ability of consumers to afford food.

For a few years now, agriculture that focuses solely on maximum yields has been regarded with increasing skepticism. It is becoming more and more clear just how dependent we are on healthy soils.

Brandenburg is the federal state with the worst soil quality in Germany. The already thin, fertile humus layer has been shrinking for decades. Researchers and farmers who are keen to experiment are combating these developments and looking for solutions. Priority is being given to building up the humus layer, which consists of microorganisms and fungi, as well as springtails, small worms and centipedes.

For Lena and Philipp Adler, two young vegetable farmers, the tiny soil creatures are invaluable helpers. On their three-hectare organic farm, they rely on simple, mechanical weed control, fallow areas where the soil can recover, and diversity. Conventional farmer Mark Dümichen also does everything he can to protect soil life on his land. For years, he has not tilled the soil after the harvest and sows directly into the field. His yields have stabilized since he began to work this way.

Isabella Krause from Regionalwert AG Berlin-Brandenburg is convinced after the experiences of the last hot summers that new crops will thrive on Brandenburg's fields in the long term. She has founded a network of farmers who are promoting the cultivation of chickpeas with support from the scientific community.