29 Jul Megan: Do Unto Others

During our time in Imperial, Neb. Roland Harvesting experienced a “first” that we had hoped would never come.

One morning, Brandon went to the service truck to gather a few things to begin the daily maintenance work. Upon opening the door to the tool box, he was shocked to see that all of the tools were missing. After searching in the other compartments it was discovered that numerous wrenches, grease guns, impacts, sockets, gear pullers, and several other specialty tools had all been stolen sometime during the night. The service truck was parked in the farmer’s field almost 10 miles from town, essentially out in the middle of nowhere. We contacted the local law enforcement but experienced multiple hang-ups with the investigation.

It is so sad that after traveling for over 35 years from Texas to North Dakota that this is the first time we have ever encountered such a demoralizing act. The monetary loss is staggering but to have it happen in our home state is even more disheartening. The tools themselves can be replaced but it is the memories that were linked to them that are gone. Many of these tools were given to Dad as gifts from family members and us kids. Some of them he received from Grandpa Bob over 40 years ago. Countless hours of hard work by our harvesting business paid for the rest. As the thieves laid their hands on these tools do you think they understood or cared about the importance or significance of them? With greed consuming their thoughts, I doubt they even realized that without these tools, we cannot perform maintenance on machinery or fix breakdowns, ultimately crippling the effectiveness of our operation.

Harvesting is more than just a business to my family. It is our livelihood and with it comes a sense of pride. A hand shake is worth our word. Honesty is what we practice. And hard work is what we know. Being defied by selfish strangers has made us feel vulnerable. Our privacy was invaded and our trust in others shaken. However, as I’ve learned from Mom and Dad, you can’t think for others and you continue to do what is right. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

The service truck sits vacant as we scramble to replace tools to keep our harvesting operation running smoothly. 

All Aboard Wheat Harvest™ is sponsored by High Plains Journal and New Holland Agriculture. Megan can be reached at megan@allaboardharvest.com.