Around 60 of the farmer’s neighbors, friends, and family came together in North Dakota to help him harvest his wheat and canola crops after he had a heart attack, which is when a touching story began to unfold. On his farm near Crosby, North Dakota, Lane Unhjem was in the middle of harvesting when his combine caught fire. Unhjem suffered a cardiac arrest as a result of the event’s stress, and he was taken to the hospital right away. While the neighborhood came together to complete the task, his farm was not left unattended.
These farmers in Divide County had a remarkable bond with one another. They patiently postponed their own harvesting and kindly donated their tools to help the Unhjem family. Close family friend Jenna Binde explained, “I spoke to a couple of farmers, got their equipment, and then other people just started calling, and we had equipment offered from all over the place in the county, and their workers to go with it.
The team finished harvesting Unhjem’s Durum wheat and canola with the help of 15 tractor-trailers, 11 combines, six grain carts, and the power of community. They harvested 1,000 acres in just seven hours, demonstrating impressive teamwork. The Unhjem family was able to save their crops and avoid a significant loss thanks to the combined effort of these selfless people.
The community’s assistance was common sense, not just a deed of kindness. Those who offered assistance understood how disastrous it would have been for the Unhjem family to let their crops go unpicked. It was a lovely illustration of the strength of a community coming together in trying times.
