Born Without Arms or Legs, Chris Koch Still Runs the Combine

Farmers are known for finding a way around whatever stands in their path. Chris Koch takes that mindset to another level.

Chris is a Canadian farmer, motivational speaker and adaptive athlete who was born without arms or legs. He recently finished the Chicago Marathon, then spent a couple of days combining corn with Jamie Walter at Whiskey Acres before heading home. He joined host Shane Gray on Illinois Corn TV to talk about life on the farm and the lessons it’s taught him.

A tone set on day one

Chris tells every audience the same story. When his grandma learned he’d been born without arms and legs, her reaction was to joke that his dad never finished anything he started. That sense of humor, and the expectation that he’d figure things out like everyone else, followed him from childhood on.

“It was never, ‘Oh, I don’t know, it might be tough,’” Chris said. “It was, ‘All right. Let’s figure it out.’ And that’s how I’ve lived life.”

Growing up on the farm

Like a lot of farm kids, Chris’s earliest memories are riding along in the tractor and combine with his grandpa, dad and uncles. His grandpa ran a cow-calf and cropping operation, and today Chris helps close family friends during harvest. He climbs into the combine, tractor and sprayer on his own and runs the touch screens and hand controls on new equipment without any modifications.

He’s also had some fun with it. Once, while Chris was driving a combine down the road, a DOT officer had his friend’s semi pulled over. Chris waved as he passed, and the officer’s expression went from friendly to completely puzzled. Chris likes to think he got his friend out of a ticket that day.

Tough times aren’t permanent

During the 1987 drought, Chris rode along with his grandpa to check crops. His grandpa told him it was one of the worst years he’d ever seen, but that tough times don’t last and good times don’t either. By 1991, they had bumper crops and roughly 250,000 bushels piled outside for lack of bin space.

“That taught me that we can get through anything,” Chris said. Stay the course, keep chipping away and stay positive.

Afraid of regret, not failure

Chris says he’s more afraid of regret than failure. Failure, he explained, is one of the best teachers we have, and it’s how we build resilience and find out what we’re capable of. Regret is wondering what might have happened if you’d tried.

“I want people to be on the sidelines watching me do stuff and be like, ‘Hey, there’s a guy without legs doing it. Maybe I need to get off my butt and elevate my game,’” he said.

Watch the full episode above, and find more IL Corn TV episodes on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform.