Randy was a typical farmer in North Dakota.
It was late Sept and he was having one last night out with the bhoys before harvest began in earnest on Mon. Typical Fri night, pool and beers, with a football match on the screens in a smoky bar.
Heading home that night changed everything, he didn’t drive, he left his car at the bar, he ordered a taxi to take him and home was cut in two in the cab by a pickup doing 80 crossing an intersection. He never knew what hit him.
Kharra life as she knew it was over, it seemed hopeless now, then the grief came and consumed her for two days for her to come out of it into a world of despair. She attended the funeral as a zombie in a slow mo replay in autopilot.
She got home but knew the clock was ticking, she put the kids to bed, took a glass of wine looking at a picture of Randy and then went to bed and cried herself asleep.
She woke the next morning, for a moment wished it had all been a nightmare then reality hit her in the face with a bat! And the fight or flight reflex took hold. She closed her eyes, covered her face with her hands and refused to cry and did all she had to do to convince herself to face the day.
The reality of life in N Dakota is your house finances run for harvest to harvest, so year to year, about Oct/Nov you get a huge windfall from selling your crop, from $100k to $300k depending on the harvest. Flip side of the coin is come the end of Sept the coffers are bare. Even in overdraft, it’s common in N Dakota for banks to allow a no consequence default on a martgage through the summer running up to the harvest in the know, come the harvest the banks can recoups the defualts, with a fee attached obv.
And this was the case with the Randy household, the last harvest wasn’t great, so this years harvest was good, so they’d been slighty leaning on it’s windfall to bring them back above board, a typical rhyme in the finances of N Dakota famers.
But Randy spent a month driving the combines over the fields, Kharra didn’t know how the worked, she had the kids to care for.
She tried, she hired a few farm hands, but they didn’t have the caliber for it.
Then Wyatt Thompson and Andy Gates got involved. And every other local farmer who could spare some help. They showed up in droves.
As Kharra stood on in awe over 2 days many local community farmers came to help, 50-100, no count was kept, and worked the fields and delivered the corn to market. Sold the grain, and brought Kharra a cheque for $180,000 to last her the year.
The soil needs the winter to rest, but it’s important it be planted in Jan to be ready for the spring, it’s gruelling work using tractors in freezing conditions. But the important part was that Kharra now had some breathing space. She could collect herself, be careful with the money she had and work it out.
It was the day before Thanksgiving that Wyatt called her, asking if she could attend a meeting with him sometime after Thankgivings, she said she’s be free the day after, so they met at a local lawyers office.
She walked in to be greeted with curtesy by Mr. Wyatt himself. “Thank you for coming, you’ll want to know what this is all about, we want to make sure your set up for life and beyond, is what this is all about.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand?”
“Kharra it is all good news I assure you, we’d like to propose a plan to you to help with your estate management going forward to ensure you aew well supported from Randy’s efforts.”
“Well should I have my lawyer here for this?”
“We have already given her proposal to your lawyer for review and invited hm here. He has not given us his feedback yet, he insists on giving that to you privately, which we respect, we have a private room already set up, you can take a refreshment, take some time to yourself and speak with your lawyer, and you can invite me in if at any point you feel confident to progress with this meeting, please I call it a meeting, it wont be, it’s a sit down to discuss the best way forward.”
“Ok, I suppose, allow me to have some time the my lawyer please.”
“Certainly.”
The room was small but very comfy, two comfy seats over a snack table with wrapped snacks, various bottles of non alcoholic drinks and adjoining WC.
Kharra wondered where this was going.
Her lawyer was there who immediately gave her a hug and asked how she was.
“Please, what’s going on?”
“Quite right, short story, first glance it looks good. Please have a seat and I can take you through it.”
“Ok.”
As they sat he offered her a bottle of water as she settled he opened a file.
“This is a document from Wyatt’s lawyers, with a proposal about your estare, now this is a bit unusal, for another private citizen to make a proposal about your own estate from your late husband, but I have ready the summary, and I think it holds some merit and deserves your attention and consideration, so far, they have not disclosed the exact terms yet, which they want to do during the meeting.”
“So they want decide what happens to Randy’s ranch?!”
“No, this is only a proposal, a suggestion. As your lawyer, I can say you have 100% say on the outcome of this meeting, no one has any right over the claim to your property. I believe they are going to offer you a handsome sublet deal to work the land for you. That is the impression, but they are offering a deal, it is up to you to accept it, there is no time limit on it other than the upcomming seeding season, which is 2 months away, so you can take you time to decide.”
“So I don’t have to agree?”
“No, the final outcome from this meeting is up to you, we have a room off to the side which is soundproof, at any time you can ask that you and I go consult in their in private and you can take a break anytime, this is a sympathetic to you, I think they may be looking for mutual benefit that may actually be quite sweet for you, they seem to be genuine. I advise you to hear them out, and consult with me prior to any final decision.”
“I’ll do it. Tell them to gimme 15 mins to go outside for a ciggy and get a cup of tea and I will hear them out.”
“Quite right, take a moment to compose yourself, it’ll be a friendly meeting so don’t worry. And come in when your ready, we’re just through there and Julia here will show you where the tea is and where you can take a break.”
Kharra walked into the ‘room of suits’ as she later came to think of it as, with a bit of trepidation. She was up for it, but wasn’t exactly sure what was coming.
“Mrs Fyllesvold, thank you for coming! Pleasure to meet you again, we met briefly at the funeral and I am so sorry for your loss, you won’t remember as I am just one of the folka around this, but I hope by the end of it you’ll see I only mean you well. I was one of the ones of helped organise your last harvest since the passing of Randy, I mention that to try convince you I am on your team.”
“Hello, Ok, thanks and all, y’all saved my life, I have nothing but thanks for that. I’m still not sure what this is about though.”
“Your right to ask Mrs Fyllesvold, we want to make sure you have a comfy life and build a foundation that will looks after Randy’s land and pay you a stipend for life and generatations to come.”
“Well how would that work, who would do the work? Where would I live?”
“Let me take you through the proposal, you or your lawyer can’t stop me at anytime with any question, would you like to hear our proposal?”
Kaheer looked at her lawyer, he gave her a slight nod, she said, “Lemme have it.”
“Ok I will lay it out. You and your husband own 380,000 acre of prime farming land and Randy has done a prime job of looking after it, with sensible stewardship it can remain as productive for forever. So we’d like to only sublet your land and pay you a generous lease for it. And before you ask where your to live, pick your spot, your own house as it is and we’ll put a 1km eclusion zone around on the property or build you a new house anywhere you pick on the propery, you will always be the landlord, we are asking to sublet, to work Randy’s land, and we’ve a profit sharing plane as well.”
“So, I keep the land?”
“Yes, 100%”
“How do I live? I have a mortgage to pay, power bills, groceries and healthcare, two kids, what about that?”
“We have considered this, in our offer we suggest to pay you $100,000 per harvest plus a bonus if it’s been a good year and pay off your motgage and provide $20,000 to profide renewable energy for your home, so you’ll have little to no energy bills, but only $100,000+bonuses to spend on grocies and as you like, for life and genertations to come. We propose to honor this deal for 100 year, subject to renewal by both parties if both sides agree… 100 years from now.”
Wyatt TAhompson, Andy Gates and others began organizing farmers from surrounding communities.
Randy Fyllesvold never got to finish his final harvest.
The North Dakota farmer died in a car crash in September 2025, leaving behind his wife Kharra, their two sons, and fields that still needed to be brought in.
His friends decided his family would not face that job alone.
Wyatt Thompson, Andy Gates and others began organizing farmers from surrounding communities.
Then the equipment started arriving.
About 75 volunteers.
12 combines.
Grain carts.
Dozens of trucks.
People from more than 10 communities.
They split the machinery between fields and coordinated with grain elevators so the huge amount of corn could keep moving.
In just a few days, the group harvested roughly 1,400 acres of corn. They also helped with the family’s remaining soybeans and canola.
One of the organizers described it simply as “divide and conquer.”
For Kharra, the sight was something much bigger.
She called the community’s response “nothing short of breathtaking” and said seeing so many people in the fields brought both joy and sorrow as they finished the last harvest of Randy’s life’s work.
There are plenty of stories about people saying, “We’re here if you need anything.”
This one looked like 12 combines rolling into a field.Randy Fyllesvold never got to finish his final harvest.
The North Dakota farmer died in a car crash in September 2025, leaving behind his wife Kharra, their two sons, and fields that still needed to be brought in.
His friends decided his family would not face that job alone.
Wyatt Thompson, Andy Gates and others began organizing farmers from surrounding communities.
Then the equipment started arriving.
About 75 volunteers.
12 combines.
Grain carts.
Dozens of trucks.
People from more than 10 communities.
They split the machinery between fields and coordinated with grain elevators so the huge amount of corn could keep moving.
In just a few days, the group harvested roughly 1,400 acres of corn. They also helped with the family’s remaining soybeans and canola.
One of the organizers described it simply as “divide and conquer.”
For Kharra, the sight was something much bigger.
She called the community’s response “nothing short of breathtaking” and said seeing so many people in the fields brought both joy and sorrow as they finished the last harvest of Randy’s life’s work.
There are plenty of stories about people saying, “We’re here if you need anything.”
This one looked like 12 combines rolling into a field.