If a farmer or rancher says that they have never experienced close calls in the field or barn, they are most likely lying. Ag is a dangerous business. This is no secret, and most anyone who has worked in agriculture has experienced close calls or worse.

My first close call came as a teenager dragging a newly seeded field of oats along Bow Creek. The field was narrow and bordered a pasture along the creek. When I turned around on the ends, I had to watch out for the pasture fence. I turned too sharply, and the cable connected from the hitch to one of the outer drag sections caught on the rear tire of our IHC 560.

Close call

In a split second, that drag section was in the air hovering above me. I braked with a jolt, stopping everything in its place so I could think. As that drag hung over me in my tractor seat, I knew that if I made the wrong move, if my foot slipped from the brake, I could be in big trouble.

I turned down the throttle. A light bulb went off in my head — just back it up. So, I backed the tractor carefully, and the drag section went back to the ground where it belonged. I learned that lesson. When Dad told me not to turn too sharp with the drag, I didn’t understand what he meant. Now, I did.

That’s the way farm accidents happen, especially with young and inexperienced operators, as I was at the time. But I learned from that close call and never forgot that lesson.

Related:Watch your step: Grain bin safety tips from a farmer who knows

If you read our series of stories about Rodney TeKolste, who slipped from a grain bin and fell 40 feet only to survive the ordeal miraculously, you know what I mean. TeKolste learned from his accident, too, but he had to learn the hard way after multiple surgeries and months of rehabilitation. TeKolste’s advice to fellow farmers is simple: Watch your step. Take your time. Slow down on the job.

It’s good advice but difficult to follow — until you hear his story and all that he went through. My advice for this harvest is to take TeKolste’s advice to heart.

Kudos to our team

We at Nebraska Farmer and Farm Progress are fortunate to have a fantastic team. Besides the editors and writers, our production team members are top notch. Those of us who work with them every day know this. But our readers should know, too.

Shelly Jarka, who is the art director for Nebraska Farmer, recently was honored at the Agricultural Communicators Network conference in Kansas City with a design award, taking third place in the “Best Use of Chart and Graph Material” category for a graphic she developed last fall illustrating the fun food facts from Memorial Stadium during a Husker football game.

Related:A grain bin fall and the miracle man

Also of note, Sarah McNaughton, editor of Dakota Farmer and co-host of our Farm Progress podcast FP Next, and I received second place for our episode “Just how much farmland does Bill Gates own?” McNaughton, Missouri Ruralist Editor Mindy Ward and I also received third place in the “Team Story” category of the ACN awards for our article about preventing combine fires.

Like I said, we are very fortunate to have great team members in our corner, not only those recognized with these recent awards but also in our sales, marketing, digital, production and editorial teams across the board.