Farmers drove seven combines to help Jerry Hahn with wheat harvest
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A group of Kansas producers paused operations at their own farms to help a fellow producer in need.
Jerry Hahn, who raises 550 acres of crops in Garden Plain, Kan. in Sedgwick County, was worried he wouldn’t be able to finish his wheat harvest this year.
He received a stage 2 pancreatic cancer diagnosis earlier this year, and the aftereffects of his biweekly chemotherapy treatments make it difficult for him to operate his combine.
“On the bad weeks when I have chemo, I wouldn’t be nowhere around here. I would be in bed. It kicks me pretty good,” the third-generation farmer told KSNW.
After voicing his concern about whether his wheat would get cut, another farmer reassured Hahn that neighbors were prepared to lend a hand, or in this case, a combine.
About 25 farmers arrived at Hahn’s farm with seven combines on June 17 to harvest his wheat. The farmers finished the job, which would’ve taken Hahn almost two weeks, in just a matter of hours.
“Jerry Hahn’s been my best friend since I was four years old,” Gene Koester, one of the volunteers, told KSNW. “We all hate to see what’s going on with Jerry. He’s the nicest guy you ever want to meet.”
With his harvest complete, Hahn’s focus is to get well enough to complete his own harvest next year and be ready to help should another farmer need it.
“Next year, if someone has the same problem I did, they’ll be there,” Hahn told KWCH. “We’ll all come together. They helped me (and) I’m one of them.”
Farms.com has reached out to the Sedgwick County Farm Bureau for comment.