Yuna community completes harvest for Burton family

Darryl Burton, 51, sadly passed away in his sleep when on a family camping holiday at Woolleen station in the Murchison over the recent school holidays.

More affectionately known as Jack, he leaves behind wife Liz and two boys Henry, 13 and Mark, 10.

In 1996 Jack returned to 'Hillcrest', the family farm run by his parents Ben and Mena.

The Burton family started farming at North Eradu in 1925, with Ben working alongside his father at just 16 years of age.

Ben expanded the current home farm with Mena and children - Michael, Neil, Darryl and Carolyn.

Over the past month the Yuna community has been grieving as everyone came to terms with losing one of their own - someone who had a lot of connections and meant a lot to so many people outside of his strong family unit.

And at the same time, plans were put in place to harvest the family's crops.

One of Jack's best mates, Matt Williamson, said he heard the tragic news on the morning of October 1.

"To be honest everyone was in shock, it was quite unexpected," Mr Williamson said.

"We all lost a good mate and wanted to help out the family.

"The following day I spoke to Bruce Ley, another neighbour and we started a plan."

The call went out via the Yuna Farm Improvement Group WhatsApp group.

He said the offers of help were overwhelming and they could have easily had twice the amount of machinery required to take the family crop off.

They picked last Sunday as the day for the community to come together to complete the harvest program.

Mr Williamson said with an early start to harvest in WA, much of the heavy lifting was done by Jack's brother Neil and brother-in-law Andrew Robinson, who was camping with Jack at the time of his passing.

A catering plan was put in place by the Yuna CWA and the Chapman Valley Football Club, with AFGRI Equipment Geraldton, CSBP, Planfarm and Nutrien Ag Solutions supplying lunch, and burgers for the evening that were cooked on the Elders barbecue trailer.

Great Southern Fuels and Westchester supplied the fuel, AFGRI Equipment Geraldton provided the mechanical support, a field bin and tractor, with haulage company SRT and local farmers carting the grain - with many more businesses coming forward, without question, to chip in.

Mr Williamson said it was great to see the community get together and "hopefully something the boys can remember for life in a very difficult time".

"We hope the family feels the love and support of the community," he said.

Mr Williamson described Jack as a good mate, saying he was everyone's friend.

"He was a very genuine bloke," he said.

When questioned about the level of support from the community to help out, he wasn't surprised.

"I expected it to be honest," he said.

Mr Williamson said he constantly heard from people who wanted to know how they could contribute.

He also said the day was another chance for many people to celebrate Jack's life, including a lot of his old school mates who got together on the day.

Mr Robinson, who is a farmer from Wongan Hills, was overwhelmed by the Yuna community support and while he didn't know too many people in the Chapman Valley prior to this tragedy, he now has new friends for life.

He has nothing but respect for everyone in the community who came forward and wrapped their arms around the extended family.

More than 400 people attended Jack's funeral in Geraldton on October 27, which Mr Robinson said was a great reflection of how much love everyone had for Jack and his family.

He said this continued with offers of help and he couldn't believe how many people wanted to supply machinery.

Mr Robinson said the wheels were in motion pretty quickly for the mass harvest which seemed to fit in well, with much of harvest wrapping up in the area.

The big thing that stood out for Mr Robinson was the amount of generosity from businesses when they asked for help.

He said even businesses the Burtons had no direct connections with came forward.

"They all just wanted to help," Mr Robinson said.

He said Jack wasn't a loud character, but he was always there, always checking in with people and he had a lot of respect.

"It has been amazing for everyone in the community to drop their tools and ask what they can do," Mr Robinson said.

The combined effort quickly tackled the 1200 hectares of wheat that was remaining.

CBH Geraldton organised to be open on Sunday to receive the wheat, which was about a three-hour turnaround for each road train - Mr Robinson said this was another great example of the community and business working together as one.

A lot of people who turned up on the day just wanted to help out in some way, and Mr Robinson said they were asked to be armed with a pair of gloves to help clean up.

He said every little bit of help was much appreciated.

While farms generally tend to become bigger, meaning less people in regional communities, Mr Robinson said in the country the community spirit was still well and truly alive.

He also believed for many Sunday's harvest provided comfort, saying they felt like they had done something meaningful for Jack and his family.

When quizzed about what Jack would have thought of the community response, Mr Robinson believed his brother-in-law would have questioned the fuss, suggesting there's no need for it.

"That's Jack to a tee," he said.

Jack's dad Ben Burton said the support they received from everyone in the community "was overwhelming".

He was humbled by the offers of help, with others attending for drinks and a catch-up on Sunday evening.

Mr Burton said he wasn't surprised at how everyone responded, saying they lived in a great community and Jack was well respected.

On Sunday he drove a few people around to watch the harvesters in action and he said everything was so well co-ordinated with the chaser bins and trucks lined up and "everything ran so smoothly".

"I said to someone going back, the trucks were taking in one load that would probably take nearly a week to cart in an old truck," Mr Burton said.

His message to everyone who provided comfort or support over the past month was simple.

"Thank you."