Lift up your eyes, and look unto the fields; for they are white already unto harvest. John 4:35. The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Luke 10:2

I grew up in a farming community in the rolling hills of western Wisconsin. The Lord had spared this area of the ravages of the glaciers during the Ice Age, therefore it is often referred to as “God’s Country”. The hillsides were steep and it was hard to raise crops on them, but were ideal for grazing cattle. Dad always said our cows had to have legs shorter on one side to stand up straight and graze on the hillside. The cropland was either in the narrow fertile valleys or on the ridge land. Most of the precious cropland was used to grow hay, oats, and corn to feed our cattle during the long, hard Wisconsin winters; but we always had about two acres to grow a cash crop.

The cash crop was a perishable crop. If it did not get the proper care at the proper time, it could easily be lost. If there was too little rain or not enough fertilizer, it would not grow If there was too much sun, it would burn. If it was not harvested before even a slight frost, it would freeze and be worthless. Even though the cash crop was a lot of work and a real gamble to raise, it often grossed more income that the dairy cows. Without the money from the cash crop, it would be very hard to survive on the farm.

Several of the neighboring farmers had sold their farms to the Amish the summer of 1965. Since the Amish had arrived after the normal planting time for crops, Dad had agreed to give our closest Amish neighbor, Menno, every eleventh hay bale in exchange for Menno and his two oldest boys helping us put up our hay. Dad ran the baler and I drove the tractor pulling the hay wagon, since Menno’s sons used only horses. When we got to the hay mow, I climbed in the top of the hay mow to stack the hay while Menno’s sons loaded the bales in the electric hiker, which brought the bales to the top of the hay mow. When the wagon was empty and Menno was out of sight, the Amish boys would take the opportunity to drive the tractor forward. They made me promise not to tell their dad.