COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – Friends of an Iowa farmer who died in July have come together to help with his final harvest. The Daily Nonpareil reports 59-year-old LaVerne Burck died after being diagnosed with lung cancer, leaving his daughter Jessica about 1,300 acres in Pottawattamie County.

About 30 of LaVerne’s friends and members of the farming community teamed up to harvest the field, and some donated equipment for the job. A few area businesses provided fuel for equipment.

The group started their work on Sept. 8 harvesting corn and soybeans on the farm, which has been in the family since the 1870s, and the harvest is nearly complete.