The current harvest season is a good reminder that, despite all of the advances in machinery, plant genetics, herbicides and pesticides, farming is still fraught with uncertainty and uncontrolled variables. After drought conditions prevailed for much of the summer, October brought unending rain, resulting in one of the latest harvests in decades.

Wet crops mean higher costs for farmers, as well as the potential for mold and other complications that can affect crop quality. We don't yet know how severe the losses will be, but this week's warm, dry weather should help.

But this window of opportunity for farmers will require many people, both farmers and nonfarmers alike, to exercise some caution and common sense. People driving in rural areas should be on the alert for combines, tractors and grain wagons on highways and county roads, especially after dark. Many farm operations will work 24 hours a day to bring in the crops, and we'll all be well-advised to move far to the right and slow down as we crest hills.

Farmers and their employees also need to be careful. Machines don't need rest, but people do. Operating heavy equipment 20 hours a day for a week at a time is a recipe for disaster. When fatigue sets in, don't rely on caffeine to stay alert. Get some sleep, and make sure everyone involved in the operation does the same.

And for family farms, we urge moms and dads to be especially careful and watchful of the work being done by teenagers. Every year, hundreds of children nationwide are killed in farm accidents, many of them during the high-stress harvest season.

It's our fervent hope that Minnesota can defy those statistics and have a safe, tragedy-free November on the farm.

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