AGRICULTURE: Farm Rescue Helps Walhalla Farmer: Group, Volunteers Try to Plant Field on Time
Posted on: Friday, 2 June 2006, 00:00 CDT
By Kelly Stone, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.
Jun. 1--WALHALLA, N.D. - Brian Hardy's Walhalla-area farm yard was filled with men and machinery Wednesday, but the quiet, dark-haired farmer was 20 miles away in a Cavalier, N.D., hospital room.
"I'd sooner be out there, but I had a little setback yesterday," he said softly.
The crew gathered on his farm was from Farm Rescue, there to plant 300 acres of pinto beans. Hardy can't do it himself because he's recovering from a farm accident.
"I had a field cultivator jacked up to change the wheel bearings on it, when the jack slipped out and the cultivator dropped down," Hardy said.
The cultivator frame landed on his back, breaking three vertebrae. The shovel landed on his knee, leaving a huge gash.
"When I got hurt, we had quite a few acres left," he said. "My dad and brother and son put in a lot of extra effort."
Despite the help from the family, Hardy still would have had to hire extra help to get his beans planted on time.
Instead, Farm Rescue worked with sponsor RDO equipment to line up machinery, and retired farmer Joe Dethlafsen volunteered to operate it. Dethlafsen's neighbors stepped in to help five years ago when his wife was diagnosed with cancer. Now, he says, it's his turn to help.
Hardy will wear a full back brace round the clock for at least three months.
"The doctor says I just have to let it heal. I sure appreciate the guys' efforts, coming up here and helping out," he said.
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Copyright (c) 2006, Grand Forks Herald, N.D.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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Source: Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, N.D.)
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