We are moving into a dangerous time of year — one of the most dangerous in Kansas — as wheat harvest moves toward full swing.

The dangers can come from many directions: slow-moving equipment on roads that set the stage for accidents, the dangers inherent in the operation of heavy equipment, the long hours and hard work of harvest, and the pressure to hurry brought about by weather threats.

Through the years, I have seen many close calls and a few tragedies. One of the worst tragedies was the death of a little girl a few years ago. She was doing what farm kids all around the world love to do — riding in the combine.

When the combine hit a bump, she was thrown from the seat into the windshield, something that ordinarily might result in a bad bump. Only this time, the windshield did not hold. It popped out and she fell into the header and was killed instantly. It was a freak accident, and the odds of it happening have to be extremely low, so low in fact, that I would not suggest that children be barred from riding in the combine. The bonding from the memories that are made on those harvest days is enormous, and I think the benefit outweighs the risk.

On another occasion, I talked to a somewhat shaken farmer who had just lost a combine to fire in the wheat field.

On numerous Farm Bureau safety days and at U.S. Custom Harvesters safety meetings, I have seen the demonstrations of how easily a person can be pulled into a PTO or engulfed in a grain bin. It is always a reminder that farming is a deadly, dangerous occupation.

It is nowhere near as dangerous as it was when I was kid who managed to survive riding on tractor fenders and at the top of fully loaded flatbeds of hay bales or in farm trucks loaded with soybeans. Back then, PTOs were frequently unshielded and the Farm-all C that I drove in the fields was the old tricycle model that tipped over with frightening ease.

We have come a long way in the effort to stay safe and keep our families safe as we go about each day's work. But we have to be vigilant.

Stay safe out there.