Dulmage, and 3 Bracken men, ages 34 to 64, all of North Dakota, died in a field on Aug. 29. A .357 revolver was recovered at the scene, the Sheriff won't speculate on the hows or whys surrounding the deaths. Dulmage, age 56, was shot in his combine while harvesting.
Dulmage lived with his wife and two daughters in Leeds, but farmed with his 95-year-old father at their acreage outside of town.
On Friday at least a half dozen farmers brought their combines, grain carts, tractors and semis to the fields of Dulmage and Bracken.
Instead, the harvest effort was about doing what needed to be done. “This is just what you do. It’s as simple as that; help where help is needed,” said Tyler Sears as he wheeled his combine down the wheat field
Helping their neighbors in need is just something people in rural communities do and that makes Sears glad to call one of those his home.
“Makes you proud of the community you live in,” Sears said.
He and the other men who lent a hand during Dulmage’s and Bracken’s harvests were working on an as-needed-basis in the effort coordinated by Lee Simon, owner of Simon Total Ag Consulting Inc., Oberon, North Dakota.
Simon, an agronomist for both Dulmage and Bracken, didn’t need to put out a call for harvest volunteers — people called him and asked how they could help.
Down the road about a mile, Brian Engstrom, Dulmage’s friend since childhood, was helping harvest another wheat field on Friday. He volunteered his harvest equipment, crew and time when he heard about Simon organizing harvest shifts.
“Everybody’s taking their turn,” Engstrom said.
After the wheat harvest is completed, volunteers will combine the flax, soybeans and corn when those crops are ready to be combined.
“All of the early wheat will be off by the end of the day,” Simon said on Sept. 2. After that he has people lined up to harvest the flax, and then late-planted wheat.
“After that will be soybeans and corn,” he said.
Engstrom wasn’t surprised there were more offers to help harvest Dulmage’s and Bracken’s crops than there were fields to harvest because it’s common for many people to respond when someone they know — and even that they don’t
Dulmage was active in the North Dakota Farm Bureau, where he served as Benson County president and was a Pioneer Seed dealer. Bracken, who worked for Dulmage and farmed some land on his own was outgoing and it was obvious he enjoyed life, Moore said. “You would have a lot of fun talking to him,” he said.
“Makes you proud of the community you live in,” Sears said.
He and the other men who lent a hand during Dulmage’s and Bracken’s harvests were working on an as-needed-basis in the effort coordinated by Lee Simon, owner of Simon Total Ag Consulting Inc., Oberon, North Dakota.
Simon, an agronomist for both Dulmage and Bracken, didn’t need to put out a call for harvest volunteers — people called him and asked how they could help.
Down the road about a mile, Brian Engstrom, Dulmage’s friend since childhood, was helping harvest another wheat field on Friday. He volunteered his harvest equipment, crew and time when he heard about Simon organizing harvest shifts.
“Everybody’s taking their turn,” Engstrom said.
After the wheat harvest is completed, volunteers will combine the flax, soybeans and corn when those crops are ready to be combined.
“All of the early wheat will be off by the end of the day,” Simon said on Sept. 2. After that he has people lined up to harvest the flax, and then late-planted wheat.
“After that will be soybeans and corn,” he said.
Engstrom wasn’t surprised there were more offers to help harvest Dulmage’s and Bracken’s crops than there were fields to harvest because it’s common for many people to respond when someone they know — and even that they don’t
Dulmage was active in the North Dakota Farm Bureau, where he served as Benson County president and was a Pioneer Seed dealer. Bracken, who worked for Dulmage and farmed some land on his own was outgoing and it was obvious he enjoyed life, Moore said. “You would have a lot of fun talking to him,” he said.
Wonderful story of neighbors helping neighbors in this time of sadness.
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