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Ten combines rumbled through the hundreds of acres Joe Penny had farmed, filling his grieving family with hope and gratitude.

Penny died in a motorcycle accident in August, so neighbors, friends and relatives banded together last week to harvest more than 600 acres of his soybeans near Decatur, Nebraska.

“It was so moving,’’ said Jenny Penny, his daughter. “It really brought home how much Dad meant to people that they would take their time from their family (farm) operation and come harvest dad’s crop.”

She said it would have taken her family more than a week to harvest those acres on its own. It took the group less than a day.

More than three dozen people turned out to help. Along with the combines, equipment included five auger-wagons and 20 semitrailer trucks.

A local grain elevator company provided free food for all of the helpers.

Penny said her father farmed a total of about 2,000 acres, including those harvested last week. Volunteers will assist with the rest, she said.

She said her family is grateful for the support.

Her father was 65 and died when the motorcycle he was driving struck a deer in South Dakota.