LOWELL | Framed against the backdrop of an blue autumn sky, men and machines worked Thursday to bring in the late Michael J. Jones' harvest.

About 25 farmers, reaped the corn Jones had planted before his death.

Jones, 47, of 10305 Belshaw Road in Lowell, was killed about 6 p.m. Aug. 27 when a semitrailer crashed into a farm vehicle he was driving on U.S. 41 west of Lowell.

The farmers who gathered Thursday asked that their names not be used in this article, but they did want others to know that the farming community does take care of its own.

"We just wanted to do this for Mike," a West Creek farmer said, explaining everyone recognized that Jones' death came close to harvest time.

"Guys would call and say Mike had a field by them, and they would take care of it. Pretty soon, so many were calling that we had to set a schedule," the farmer said.

Corn from about 180 acres, some leased and some owned by Jones, was to be harvested Thursday. Two weeks ago, about 300 acres of Jones' soybeans were brought in by the volunteers.

Gary Fulk, manager of the Lake County Farm Bureau Co-op on 181st Avenue west of Lowell, was ready to handle all of Jones' grain Thursday. On Wednesday, he had worked out the logistics so the ethanol plant in Rensselaer would be ready for Jones' harvest.

"I expect the trucks to be lined up from about 10 to noon," Fulk said of the trucks taking Jones' corn to the co-op.

At one of the harvesting sites in Cedar Creek Township, a golden stream of corn flowed into waiting farm trucks, and one farmer from south of Lowell talked about why he and the other farmers were there.

"Farmers stick together when things like this happen," he said.

"Fourteen years ago, I had open heart surgery, and I couldn't bring in my harvest. My neighbors came in and took care of it. They took care of me. It was pretty awesome."

Jones, the son of Ken and June Jones, was a Lowell High School graduate.