Farmers harvest crops for hospitalized neighbor

SHEBOYGAN COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- When a Sheboygan County husbandman got Covid-19, his neighbors did what immoderate bully friends would do. They enactment speech immoderate of their ain enactment to harvest his crops erstwhile helium was hospitalized.

"I admit it, I truly do," Dave Obbink said to the assemblage of famers who gathered successful a tract successful Cedar Grove.

Obbink knows helium has a batch to beryllium thankful for, including bully friends and his health.

"My woman and girl said it's clip to spell and I said yeah, it is," helium said of the determination to spell the infirmary erstwhile helium got Covid-19.

That was backmost successful October. Obbink was hospitalized, with astir of his crops inactive successful his fields.

That's besides erstwhile his neighbors stepped successful to help.

"Everybody knows Dave," said husbandman Jeff DeRuyter. "Dave's a changeless successful the assemblage and we heard that helium was sick and needed immoderate help."

And assistance they did. Seventeen farmers enactment their ain harvest connected clasp to bring successful Obbink's soy beans and corn.

For Obbink, it's inactive a enigma who started it.

"Nobody volition accidental they got it together, due to the fact that they would ne'er instrumentality recognition for anything," Obbink said.

But DeRuyter said truthful galore hands connected platform made it casual work.

"It was the quickest I've ever seen that galore acres travel disconnected successful an magnitude of time," DeRuyter recalled. 

Retired husbandman Bob Caljouw pitched in, too.

"I had a blast. It was conscionable fun," Caliouw said with a laugh. "I deliberation astir 44,000 bushels of maize were harvested for Dave that day.  About 200 acres worth."

It besides turned retired to beryllium a show to behold successful Cedar Grove.

"There's different combine. There's a reddish one. There's a greenish one, and each of a abrupt there's six combines," Obbink said.

DeRuyter said it stopped traffic.

"There were cars that would dilatory down and halt connected the broadside of the roadworthy conscionable to ticker for a small while," helium said.

All of those combines lined up, broadside by side, but past determination were besides each of the different radical and machines needed to get the occupation done.

"They took disconnected 200 acres successful a time with six-seven combines and semis, and atom carts and wagons, and got guys that conscionable came retired of the woodwork to bail maine retired and to assistance with this," Obbink said.

"There was astir apt 68 people, antithetic people, hauling maize to the dryer," Caliouw added.

Obbink made it location from 4 days successful the infirmary to ticker them bring successful the corn.

"I conscionable sat determination connected the couch, sitting connected the limb of the sofa looking, and the tears were conscionable moving down my face. I said, I can't judge these guys would bash this," helium remembered.

But the mode they spot it -- however could they not? It is what neighbors do.

"Everybody's known everybody their full lives. Like I said, I grew up here, lone astir a mile and a half, 2 miles distant from wherever we are now. Known Dave and everybody down maine present my full life," DeRuyter said.

They cognize Obbink would bash it for them, too.

That's however he'd alternatively person it.

"They said, well, that's what we do. I said, I know, but it's easier to bash it than to person it done for you," Obbink said.

But the farmers said it wasn't each work.

"It was a batch of amusive to beryllium capable to get unneurotic with everybody and enactment that mode together, and it makes a feline consciousness bully that we tin assistance idiosyncratic retired who needs it," DeRuyter said.

Obbink says he's dilatory recovering from his bout with Covid.

He'll beryllium determination to lend a helping manus the adjacent time.

"Everybody successful this assemblage and this area, you cognize they're going to beryllium determination if you request it," DeRuyter said.

To spot photos of each of the farmers and their instrumentality successful the field, cheque retired Country Vision's Facebook leafage at Country Visions Cooperative.