The Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) is urging drivers and farm workers to use extra caution around farm machinery as harvest gets under way, warning that the season brings a sharp rise in risk on rural roads and around equipment.

Combines, grain carts and heavy trucks are moving between fields and grain elevators across Kansas, often on narrow rural roads at speeds far below the posted limits. KHP says that difference in speed — a combine may travel at 15 to 25 mph while traffic approaches at highway speeds — is the single biggest factor in rear-end and passing collisions during harvest.

The agency's core advice is straightforward. Slow down as soon as you see farm equipment ahead. Check for turn signals, and remember that wide machinery may swing left before making a right-hand turn into a field or farm entrance. Do not assume the operator can see your vehicle; blind spots around combines and grain carts are far larger than those around passenger cars. Pass only when it is legal and there is a clear, unobstructed view of the road ahead.

For farmers and equipment operators, KHP stresses the value of visibility measures: functioning slow-moving vehicle emblems, reflective markings and working lights, especially at dawn and dusk when traffic volumes on rural roads remain high. Operators should also confirm that escort vehicles or warning signs are in place when moving exceptionally wide loads.

Harvest also concentrates other hazards. Long hours in the cab, dust and fatigue all contribute to incidents involving machinery both on the road and in the field. KHP's warning comes as grain movement peaks, with heavy trucks making repeated trips between fields, farmsteads and elevators — a pattern that puts more large vehicles on rural highways at exactly the time commuter and school traffic returns after summer.

The practical takeaway for farmers: a short pre-trip check of lights, reflectors and SMV emblems on every tractor, combine and grain cart costs minutes and can prevent the most common type of harvest collision. For other drivers, patience at the first sight of an amber flashing light is the cheapest insurance available.

Kansas harvest activity will continue for several more weeks depending on crop and region, so KHP expects elevated machinery traffic on rural roads to persist through the season. Motorists and operators alike should keep watching for slow-moving equipment around hills, curves and field entrances until the last grain is hauled.