One day in late July, our neighbor’s field started on fire. He was baling wheat straw, and it has been an extremely dry year in Michigan. A tiny spark started almost an entire field on fire, and it almost burned down a house and barn next to the field.

But by the grace of God, everyone was safe and the buildings were untouched. 

If you ever want to see how great an agricultural neighborhood is, come during an emergency like that. My dad and one of our workers were in the field across the road. My dad called us at the farm to bring the payloader.

Another neighbor was driving home from town, and he and his wife stopped in to help. They tried to safely unhook the tractor from the burning baler. The crop farmer neighbors saw it as well and brought a tractor with a ripper and their spray trailer with a tank of water.  

Considering how strong the wind was that day and how dry everything was, this could have been so much worse. With the help of all the neighbors and the local volunteer fire department, the fire was put out in no time. Other than some lawn and straw bales burnt, there was very little damage and no one was hurt. 

It reminded me how lucky we are to live in an area with supportive neighbors. During this time of year where we can get so busy with crops and doing projects while the weather allows, it's so easy to forget about how lucky we are.

We get to be a part of this amazing industry of agriculture, and we always have a group of people willing to support us in our time of need. 

I hate it when emergencies like this occur. I wish we could prevent anything from happening. However, they are also reminders of how blessed we are.  PD 

• Ashley Messing-Kennedy

• Dairy Producer
• Bad Axe, Michigan
• Email Ashley Messing-Kennedy