Drivers urged to watch for farm vehicles with late harvest

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DeKALB – In his 32 years as a farmer, Ray Heinisch has never harvested his crops this late.

"We have done some of the soybeans but we haven't even started our corn yet," he said Friday, noting that rainy weather has prevented farmers from being able to work in their fields.

The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office and DeKalb County Farm Bureau issued a "harvest alert" Friday, telling residents they should expect to see a record number of tractors, combines, wagons and trucks on rural roads and county and state highways.

Local farmers will find themselves scrambling in the upcoming weeks in one of the latest harvests on record, officials said. They urged residents Friday to be patient while driving and cognizant of farm vehicles in the roadway.

"We do try to avoid peak hours when motorists are on the road," Heinisch said, of the effort. "But we have to move from field to field ... We're asking people to be patient, slow down and be prepared to act and react accordingly."

By the end of October, only 14 percent of Illinois' corn crop and 33 percent of its soybean crop had been harvested, according to a written statement from the DeKalb County Farm Bureau.

Local officials including DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott, DeKalb County Farm Bureau President Paul Rasmussen and Farm Bureau Health and Safety Chairman Dennis Miller are hoping their warning to motorists prevents local accidents involving farm equipment this season, they said.

"We all recognize that this is a potential dangerous situation," Scott said Friday, at a news conference coordinated by the farm bureau. "Wherever you go, the farmers are going to be out there. This isn't just DeKalb County. This is statewide."

Area motorists should be on the lookout for triangular "harvest in progress" signs — an initiative that began last year to alert drivers of harvest activity and promote slower travels. An average of five accidents involving motorists and farm equipment occur annually in DeKalb County, Scott said.

"We don't want this to be an extraordinary year where that number jumps up," he said.

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