Farm Rescue helps Wahpeton man

by anna jauhola

A non-profit organization called Farm Rescue came to the Wahpeton area this week to seed 200 acres of soybeans for Charlie Loll, who was injured while working on his farmstead.

Farm Rescue has been in the area since Saturday helping Loll seed his soybean crop. Volunteers expect to finish planting at noon today.

Charlie Loll, 22, who lives about 10 miles southwest of Wahpeton, has been sidelined since February after being injured. Loll cannot drive a tractor this spring after a piece of metal fell on his back, breaking it and stretching his spinal column.

He was pinned in the squat position, but was able to reach his cell phone to call his older brother, Ben, who was five miles away. At the time, Loll was working the evening shift for American Drivers, the company that contracts with Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative in Wahpeton to provide drivers. He called in to work and calmly said, "I won't be in to work, I just broke my back."

Charlie Loll stayed at Innovis Health in Fargo for 10 days. He went through rehabilitation at Lake Region Medical Center in Fergus Falls, Minn., where his mother, Jo Dee, works as a nurse. "She was my nurse sometimes," Charlie Loll said. By mid-March he finally got to go home to his farm just southwest of Wahpeton.

He now undergoes therapy three times a week at St. Francis Healthcare Campus. "I walk into therapy and during therapy," he said. He tries to walk with his walker every day. "Household chores are more difficult," Charlie Loll said. "I used to do a lot of fishing. It's more difficult because I can't stand sitting on a hard surface for long."

He looks on the bright side, works hard during therapy and hopes by this fall he will be able to help with harvest.

Loll is one of three brothers who went into farming. "At 6, the boys drove the lawnmower. At 9 I put them in the tractor seat. They love to farm," Rick Loll said of his sons Ben, Charlie and Josiah.

However, Loll took a different course from his brothers by attending North Dakota State College of Science for diesel mechanics. His brothers attended University of Minnesota, Crookston, with agricultural degrees. "There isn't anything Charlie can't fix," Rick Loll said.

Loll sat in a wheelchair while Farm Rescue volunteers seeded a field near his home Monday, surrounded by media from regional outlets.

He was able to drive a tractor on Saturday when Bill Gross, founder of Farm Rescue, and two volunteers came to help him seed his land. Loll submitted an application for help from Farm Rescue, a non-profit organization that "helps family farms with viable operations that have experienced illness, injury or an act of nature," Gross said. "Some people are skeptical because they think we help farmers with major financial trouble."

Farm Rescue does not help farmers with financial trouble because of poor financial planning, he said.

Gross started Farm Rescue on "the idea of one good samaritan." He flies a Boeing 747 for UPS to the Far East. On his long flights across the Pacific he and his copilots discussed what they would do when they retired. Gross said he would go out and randomly help farmers who are having a difficult time.

His idea came to reality a little sooner than his retirement, though he doesn't randomly help just any farmer.

With about 30 volunteers to date in its debut year, Farm Rescue has helped eight farmers across North Dakota this spring. The entire operation is run by volunteers and donations. "There is no payroll and everything is donated," Gross said.

Loll was to be the last farmer helped this year, but Farm Rescue volunteers will be heading to Walhalla next to help another farmer.

The major donation to Farm Rescue is a 9520 four-wheel drive John Deere tractor, a 43 foot no-till planter and a rig to hold the seed and fertilizer from RDO Equipment. Those three pieces cost more than $400,000. "RDO Equipment donates use of all John Deere equipment we use," Gross said. "Cenex donates the majority of the fuel."

Volunteers cover 300-500 acres a day with this equipment. "We literally work 24 hours a day," Gross said. Farm Rescue does not give money to farmers, the operation only plants up to 1,000 acres for those who meet the requirements.

Gross brought two volunteers, Bill Krumwiede of Voltaire, and Joe Dethlefsen of Oakes to help at Loll's. The three men seeded 200 acres of soybeans. They plan to be done planting today by noon.

"I am grateful. This is such a blessing," Charlie Loll said.

Reprinted with permission of the Wapheton Daily News. May 23, 2006