





Friends of Bill Watts donated their time to help plant and harvest his fields

By Diego Flammini

Assistant Editor, North American Content

Farms.com

A group of farmers in Illinois came together to help a fellow producer who’s going through some tough times.

Bill Watts, a farmer from Ford County, was having surgery in Texas to battle liver cancer. Eight of his friends took care of planting his fields in the spring and will harvest them later this month.

“We’re all saying a little prayer for Bill today,” Jim Hofbauer, one of the assisting farmers, told Iowa Farmer Today.



From left: Kenny Heimburger, Dean Blackford, Jim Hofbauer, Paul Frichel, Ed Frichel, Neil Miller, Elmer Kief and Tood Shively. These farmers came together to help an ill friend complete his fieldwork.

Photo: Phyllis Coulter/Iowa Farmer Today

Dean Blackford took charge and organized the planting of Watt’s 860 acres of corn and soybeans. He’ll also be planning the harvest schedule to ensure the fields are completed on time.

It also acts as a reminder that farmers are part of a special community.

“We’re as competitive as hell with each other, but when someone needs something, we are there for each other,” Blackford told Iowa Farmer Today.

“Each neighbor was in charge of preparing and planting a specific farm or field,” Todd Shively told Iowa Farmer Today. “It was very organized. Every neighbor cared for the fields just like it was their own.”

Before his surgery, Watts said people would wear out their pickup trucks trying to find a better group of people.