WATERLOO - Combines rolled across Northeast Iowa fields Monday afternoon as dark storm clouds moved in.

Getting valuable corn and soybeans harvested before adverse weather knocks ears and pods to the ground is an annual game of beat-the-clock producers play. Sometimes, hurrying too much or working too many hours ends in tragedy.

Larry Zell, who farms south of Waterloo, knows this better than most. Steering his 1992 John Deere combine with his left hand, covered by a brown leather mitten, is a constant reminder farm accidents at harvest can happen. In 1985, the 58-year-old lost his fingers on that hand in a corn picker.

"We were picking seed corn for DeKalb and putting in 16-hour days. After so many days you get sleepy," Zell said as he harvested soybeans.

Sleep deprivation and the desire to get the crop in led to a lapse in judgment, he said.

"I reached in the husking bed (to clear a clog) and I shouldn't have. Just slow up a little bit," he added.

Area producers say limiting work hours to stay alert, keeping all shields and guards in place on equipment and making sure machinery is shut off prior to performing maintenance is the best way to stay safe.

According to Iowa's Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, 40 farmers lose their lives every year. An additional 2,500 suffer serious injury.

Last weekend, three Iowans were killed in farm accidents:

- Charles Frymoyer, 3, of Moscow, died when he was ran over by a grain wagon. It wasn't attached to a tractor.

- Donald Bryan, 62, of Dickens, was killed when he apparently lost control of a tractor while pulling a wagon loaded with soybeans down a hill.

- William Kirby, 80, of Unionville, died when his tractor overturned while helping another man haul hay, pinning him underneath.

Joe Miller, who was harvesting soybeans Monday near the Ansborough Avenue and U.S. Highway 20 interchange, said the spate of recent farm safety deaths should be a wake-up call to farmers.

"I still have all of them," Miller said, briefly taking his hands off the John Deere combine's steering wheel showing off all his fingers. "I quit at dark now. You can't see as well and you get tired. By then I've already worked 12 to 14 hours anyway."

If the machine gets clogged with debris, he makes sure all moving parts are shut down before cleaning it off. When he starts feeling tired, he quits for the day - regardless of the weather.

After more than 30 years of farming, the rituals have worked so far. However, he knows a deviation could change a good safety record.

Farming is the most dangerous industry in the United States. Agriculture had 29.2 deaths per 100,000 workers, according to a 2006 press release by Iowa State University Extension. Mining was a close second with 28.3.

ISU safety expert Charles Schwab said stresses from external conditions like the weather can increase a person's risk of injury.

"Using the proper safety equipment can go a long ways toward reducing injuries," he said.

Contact Matthew Wilde at (319) 291-1579 or matt.wilde@wcfcourier.com.