I swung my foot over the seat and grabbed the handlebars as my daughter settled into the sidecar. We slowly pulled out of the station on the lead motorbike. Within seconds, our speed went from crawling to 20 mph in 1.2 seconds, and my grip tightened.

Through twists and turns, I leaned in. We slowed, then quickly catapulted forward again, heading through a tunnel and climbing 65 feet in the air. As we neared the top — again, I’m in the lead motorbike — I see no more metal. Just as we kiss that last piece of track, my body seems weightless, and we’re free-falling backward at 44 mph.

Finally, we come to a tunnel and stop. I loosen my grip, look over to my daughter, sit up straight and utter “is it …” BAM! The floor falls out and we drop 17 feet. (OK, I read that part online; I had no idea how far it was.)

I quickly grabbed the handlebars again as we went from 0 to 50 mph in four seconds. More twists and turns, rising and falling. Then it stopped. We began to slowly inch our way back into the loading station.

Once off, I grabbed my phone from the locker and texted my other daughter back in Missouri — “Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure — EPIC!”

If there was ever a roller coaster that mirrored agriculture, this is it.

Every year, as farmers, we strap in, often in the front-row seat, for the unknown in agriculture. We are excited to see what lies ahead.

The year starts coming out of the doldrums of winter and into the slower cadence of spring planting. We lean hard. We navigate the twists and turns of the weather during planting — too much rain, not enough rain.

Delays come, but we speed up planting faster, our adrenaline pumping — finally, the finish line is here when the last acre is in the ground. Then comes the free fall.

The rain stops. Drought hits. You can’t control anything. Stuck. Strapped into a calling that leaves you simply along for the ride, waiting to see what happens next. You settle. A little rain comes. The year seems promising.

Like me, you look around for someone to validate that everything will be all right. BAM! The bottom falls out — it could be markets, pests, diseases or pressures of home. It thrusts you once again into a state of the unknown. Still, you hang on through adversities in the growing season.

Farming is like a roller coaster. Few will even get in line to ride it. The brave will circle back and jump on time and time again to take that ride through the unknown. They have the endurance, the excitement and even the stomach to handle it. For those, life on the farm is a thrill a minute.

As harvest ends, you stop, climb down out of the combine cab and take a breath. You look around at your farm, your friends and your family and utter only one word — “EPIC.”