REINBECK - Don't worry about the beans.

Neighbors promised Randy Ohrt his fields would be in good hands when his cancer relapsed in July.

"They know Randy's pretty darn fussy about how to farm," said Randy's wife, Cindi, who tends to bookkeeping and maintains crop records for Ohrt Farms Inc.

And they kept their word, rounding up at least 35 folks to help.

Fifteen combines cut through 700 acres of soybeans Friday, and grain trucks hauled the harvest to Central Counties Co-op in Reinbeck.

"This is quite the operation," said Cindi's cousin, Dale Vandekop of Rock Rapids, who arrived Friday morning to drive a grain truck. He farms near Viborg, S.D. "It takes me all day to fill up a truck."

The Ohrts' friends Phil Lauterbach and Frank Wyatt were foremen for the event, and everything seemed to be running smoothly early Friday as four combines cleared a 40-acre field northeast of town in a little more than hour.

Masonic Temple Coin Lodge No. 394 delivered sack lunches, sponsored by Farm Credit Services of America in Cedar Falls.

"Randy and Cindi are good people, good neighbors, and they would do the same for any of us," Wyatt said. "This has been a tough row to hoe for Randy."

Randy Ohrt, 58. is battling an inoperable tumor on his carotid artery, which carries blood to the head and neck. Just more than two years ago, cancer attacked his tonsils.

"They consider it a curable cancer," Cindi Ohrt said.

A surprise visit to celebrate Ohrt's final treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Friday included his daughters, Angela Ohrt of Iowa City; Suzanne and Dale Felton, with their daughter, McKenna, of Cedar Rapids; and Charlotte and Eric Butikofer, and son, Aaron, of Cedar Rapids.

The tight-knit family will learn in six weeks whether Randy's almost daily doses of radiation, accompanied by weekly chemotherapy, were effective.

Randy stopped by one field briefly Friday after spending the better part of the past six weeks receiving treatments in Rochester. He stayed at the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge and returned home on weekends.

Cindi Ohrt commuted a few times a week to take care of their farming business and work part-time at Tim Sweet's law office in Reinbeck.

Unable to speak clearly, Randy Ohrt nodded in appreciation as neighbors crowded around and got him up to speed.

"He had a treatment this morning, so that really zaps him," Cindi Ohrt said.

"He's just really touched by it, but he's not really able to (talk)," Angela Ohrt added.

Event organizers watched the weather as planning began a week and a half ago. Harvesting soybeans is difficult because the moisture has to be just right, Cindi Ohrt noted.

"Mother Nature only gives you so much time for beans," said Jack Miller, who was carting loads to the grain elevator. "You have to wait a day or two after it rains. As you get into the fall, it gets cooler and it doesn't dry out as well."

Neighbors brushed off their generous gesture, saying helping a friend is what the farming community is about.

"Randy doesn't have to worry about it; he's got enough to worry about," said Roger Dudden of Dike, who is formerly of Reinbeck and still farms in the area.

"You don't even think about it. If everybody can get together some day, we'll go do 'er."

Crews were planning to rendezvous at the Ohrts' home west of Reinbeck about 8 p.m.

The Ohrts arranged to fuel up their neighbors' equipment, and Phelps Implement in Grundy Center was providing pizza and "adult beverages," said Allen Bown, another truck driver who helped out.

"That bean dust is hard to wash down," joked Bown, whose son, Cody, was in a combine.

"You gotta have something to cut it," Dudden added.

Contact Tina Hinz at (319) 291-1484 or tina.hinz@wcfcourier.com.