Nothing Slowing Him Down
|  Video
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| Retha Colclasure |
| 9/16/2009 |
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| Farming operations across the state are seeing much more rainfall than they`re used to. For most farmers, that`s good news. That includes Kevin Swanke, who runs a haying operation in the Badlands near Marmarth. This year, he`s bringing in one of the best hay crops he`s seen. And he`s doing it much like he has for decades, with one big exception. It`s just another day in the field for Kevin Swanke. His second cutting of alfalfa has him smiling, and his determination to stay in the business keeps him going. "I just like the lifestyle. You get out, away from the city," he says. The only difference between Kevin and most other farmers out in the field is that he runs his entire operation from the waist up. "I just decided I wasn`t going to let anything slow me down. There`s a lot of things I can`t do but a lot of things you find ways of doing, you just gotta do them in a different way," says Swanke. A four wheeler accident five years ago left Kevin paralyzed from the waist down. He says he talked to other farmers and ranchers in the same position and found out what kind of equipment they liked. Between the lifts and transmissions that he can run with his hands, Kevin is able to do most things on his farm, but not everything. There are some things that Kevin can`t do. Without a lift on this swather, there`s no way for him to get in or out. "I can`t change the oil on an outfit, I can`t get on my back and roll under. I`ve got hired hands and family that help. I do all I can to keep the operation running," he says. And he says he plans on doing that for as long as he can. Swanke says immediately after the accident, he wondered why it happened to him. Now he says he realized things could have been worse, and says there`s no reason anyone with a similar disability can`t find a way to keep running a farm or ranch. |
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