Farm Rescue kicks off work Monday in Jamestown   By Jackie Hyra The Jamestown Sun The Farm Rescue caravan — truck, tractor and service/fuel transport — arrived in Jamestown Monday on its way to help North Dakota family farmers in crisis. Weather permitting, the Farm Rescue volunteers will begin putting in their first crop Wednesday morning on the Matt Biel farm located 14 miles south of Dickinson. Biel, a 32-year-old farmer who lost a hand in February in a grain auger accident, is among 10 North Dakota farmers selected to receive free planting assistance this spring.   Biel and his wife, Laura, have two young children and 2,000 acres of crop land ready for seeding.   Biel said he is now able to do some work around the farm and plans to be in a tractor himself, but spring planting will be much easier with the help of Farm Rescue.  “It’s going to take a lot of the workload off for the spring,” he said. “It will be about half the crop they’ll put in.” Neighbors and family members will help Biel plant the remaining 1,000 acres to wheat, safflower, peas and buckwheat. Bill Gross, president and founder of Farm Rescue, said Biel was one of eight farmers in the western half of the state given firm commitments by Farm Rescue. Two more farmers in the Jamestown area received conditional commitments dependent upon time and funding. Any injured farmer or rancher qualified for assistance, but applications were considered based on their merits and the availability of funds and volunteers.   Gross said weather will, as usual, determine how much the crew can accomplish between now and the end of the planting season. “We’re going to go as long as we can until it’s too late to plant,” he said. Running the equipment day and night, Gross estimates the crew can plant 300 to 400 acres per day. But even if weather cooperates, Farm Rescue will probably run out of money before reaching the farmers at Courtenay and Edgeley who need help. Gross said they are about $5,000 short of the funds needed to complete the spring work. The biggest expense in the all-volunteer program is fuel. The John Deere 9520 tractor, donated by RDO Equipment, uses more than 300 gallons of fuel per day. Southwest Grain and West Dakota Oil sponsored all the fuel needed for planting in the western part of the state, but no one has as yet come forward to donate biodiesel in the Jamestown area. However, many other local sponsors have joined with Farm Rescue. Wal-Mart, Haybuster, WedgCor, Newman Outdoor Advertising, North Dakota Farmers Union, Security State Bank and the Stutsman County Ag Improvement Association sent representatives to see the caravan off and receive thanks from Gross and Tom Olson, vice president of the organization. Gross, who used $20,000 of his own money to start Farm Rescue, said the organization has done everything possible to keep costs down. While traveling, he stays with relatives or on farms to avoid the expense of a motel room.  “I even took an unpaid leave of absence from work, and I’m using all my vacation time so I can work ‘til June 1,” he said. Farm Rescue has no payroll. Everyone is a volunteer, including equipment operators and support teams.  “It’s a true grass-roots organization,” Gross said. Operating the equipment this spring are Gross and fellow pilots Todd Leubke and Jack Limke, all originally North Dakota farm boys, and North Dakota residents Bill Krumwiede, Joe Dethlefsin, Reuben Liechty, John Schock and Wayne Markegard. They will be joined by a number of people who will provide field support. Farm Rescue would also like to help with the fall harvest, if enough donations come in to cover costs. That might not be an impossible dream, given how much has already been accomplished in just one year. “I never dreamed within a year we’d be standing by the equipment,” Olson said.  He and Gross expect Farm Rescue to continue to grow, providing support to more family farmers in crisis across the state. “Someday I think it would be wonderful if we could have a Farm Rescue concert in North Dakota,” Gross said.    But that dream is for the future. Right now, the Farm Rescue crew is concentrating on putting in the crop and raising enough money to keep all its commitments, including helping the two farm families in Jamestown and Edgeley. To support the organization, tax-deductible donations can be made payable to Farm Rescue and mailed to P.O. Box 62, Cleveland, ND 58424. Sun reporter Jackie Hyra can be reached at (701) 952-8455 or by e-mail at jackieh@jamestownsun.com Reprinted with permission of Jamestown Sun.  April 11, 2006