Texas Farmers Help Neighbor Battling Cancer to Harvest His Cotton Crop

It has always been a hallmark of a good neighbor to help his fellow man. Farmers in Floyd County, Texas, have done just that, coming together to assist a fellow farmer who is battling cancer. On Monday, November 26, the group of good neighbors helped to harvest the cotton of Greg Bishop, who has recently been diagnosed with Leukemia.

Bishop’s cancer diagnosis came in September of this year. When fellow farmers in the area learned of it, they knew he wouldn’t be able to complete his own cotton harvest due to his ill health. So they came together, using their own resources and equipment to harvest his season’s crop. The original idea to assist Bishop with the harvest came from Robert Nixon, a fellow farmer and friend, and the outpouring of community support was inspiring. The general manager of the local Floydada Co-Op Gin, Aaron Hendricks, stated that there were so many interested in helping Bishop that the group had to eventually start turning folks away. In an interview with KCBD, he noted, “We had a meeting about a week ago today and discussed it. We had about 35-40 farmers come in to talk to us and see what they could do… We got a bunch of farmers together to go out and strip Greg Bishop’s cotton. We had 20 machines, all from different farmers, got together and harvested his cotton.”

Photo: Facebook/Rita Harmon

To make the harvest possible, the farmers moved millions-worth of equipment to clear the 300-400 acres northeast of Lubbock that Bishop had planted, including 20 cotton strippers and 80 to 90 people to assist. They began their work at 10 a.m. on Monday and were completed by 3 p.m. that same day. To assist in the effort, a number of local companies contributed food, fuel, and even service trucks. A former college roommate of Bishop and a long-time friend, Dave Carthel, was quoted as saying he had never been a part of such an extensive community effort as this. “We were all glad to do it for him. He’s got a rough road ahead and he’s got a lot more worries down the road than just getting his crop in so we were all just real glad to do it and I was glad to be a part of it,” he told local media outlet KCBD News Channel 11. Hendricks noted to media sources that Bishop was someone that everyone wanted to help. “He would not have asked anyone for help, but he would have been the first one out if somebody else was sick,” he explained. According to Hendricks, they helped Bishop with approximately 1,200 bales of processed cotton valued at roughly $420,000.