Grainswest - Spring 2024

Spring 2024 Grains West 20 A t dusk on Sept. 30, with about 100 acres of soybeans left to complete the 2023 harvest, our combine went up in flames. The fire investigator would later tell us it was ignited by a worn-out bearing. Its proximity to a cluster of hydraulic hoses may have caused the flames to spread quickly, but that’s my assessment, not his. BY TOBAN DYCK • ILLUSTRATION BY DARYA SHNYKINA The day of the accident, I was doing what I typically do during harvest season. Drive the grain truck, move the auger and conveyors, watch Instagram Reels and listen to true crime podcasts. As I conveyed an eighth load of soybeans into bin number seven, dad combined the home half, our final field of the season. Our yard and half-mile driveway split the field into a A grain farmer’s reflection on a fiery farm accident F R I G H T N I GHT