‘Farm Rescue' to the rescue, application deadline drawing near

By DALE HILDEBRANT, Farm & Ranch Guide
Thursday, February 2, 2006 12:11 PM CST

CLEVELAND, N.D. - Major illness or injury is a serious blow to any family at any time of the year. But that same situation in a farm family, especially during critical times of the year, such as planting or harvesting, can have a dire impact on the family's future. Well, thanks to a new non-profit organization, Farm Rescue, help is now available to those farm families needing assistance with fieldwork because of illness or injury in the family.

According to its founder, Bill Gross, Farm Rescue is operated entirely by volunteers using equipment supplied by the program's sponsors.

A farm operation must meet certain guidelines to qualify for the program. First a farmer must have a viable operation located in North Dakota, which is threatened by a major illness or injury or an act of nature that has caused undue financial hardship.

The program benefits are limited to 1,000 acres per family farm and in the planting season situation, the farmer must provide the seed and fertilizer on site and the soil must be in suitable condition for no-till planting.

The deadline for those needing assistance this spring with planting is March 15, and Gross feels the biggest challenge will be getting qualified farmers to apply.

“Farmers should not hesitate to apply,” he said. “Traditionally farmers have been reluctant to apply for assistance like this for several reasons. They have a pride issue, they don't want people to know about a certain thing, or they want to remain anonymous.

“Applications are kept strictly confidential, and they are reviewed by people who normally review farmer's finances and other such things anyway,” he added.

The four-person panel that's charged with reviewing this spring's applications include a farm loan manager with a county Farm Service Agency office, an NDSU Extension Service agent, a person who works with the State Ag Department in Bismarck, and an officer with a small, independent bank. All members of the panel are volunteering their services.

Gross notes that the farmers desiring assistance do have to make application directly to Farm Rescue and the application is available either from their Internet site or by calling the Farm Rescue office.

The Farm Rescue program, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, originally started out as a plan for Gross's free time once he retired from being a pilot, which is still about 20 years down the road.

He grew up on a farming and ranching operation near Cleveland and became aware of the struggles farm families encounter. He left the farm, attended the University of North Dakota flight school and since has flown for Pan Am Airlines and United Parcel Service.

“The idea for Farm Rescue came out of conversations with fellow crew members when we would fly across the ocean. We're usually in the air for 12 to 14 hours at a time as we cross the Pacific Ocean, and guys would say what are you going to do when you turn 60?” Gross related. “And I would say I am going to get a big tractor and go out and help farmers, and just kind of be a ‘Good Samaritan' and randomly go around with the tractor and a big digger and pull in and help farmers dig their fields. Each day I would go to a different farmer and work my way across North Dakota in the springtime.

“I started telling people about it and they said, ‘Bill, you can actually make a difference and you should get other people and businesses involved,'” he continued. “So it took me about a year to think about how this would all work and that we needed a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) tax exempt status to get people to donate and see how logistically things would work.”

The first sponsor to come on board was RDO Equipment Co., which is the exclusive equipment sponsor of the Farm Rescue Program. Since that time several other businesses have joined the effort as sponsors of the assistance plan including: Newman Outdoor Advertising, Hall Truck Center, Kussmaul Seeds, Haybuster, Cavendish Farms, Auto Trim Design & Glass, Basin Electric Power Cooperative, North Dakota Farmers Union, Bank of North Dakota, Wheat Growers, Security State Bank, Reuben & Clarice Liechty Farms, Farm Credit Services, Stutsman State Bank, Wedgcor, Inc., KSJB Radio, T Diamond J, Stutsman County Ag Improvement Association, Resource Conservation and Development Council, KMOT Ag Expo, Alliance Pipeline, OK Tire, ConAgra/Peavey Co. West, and Big Dog Country Radio.

In addition, several individuals have joined the sponsorship list.

Even though efforts are being concentrated on the upcoming spring planting season, Gross says the potential for the organization is tremendous.

“We have received many calls from South Dakota with people and businesses saying why don't you come down and operate in South Dakota?” he said. “In addition, we have people asking what about harvesting or other things? We're doing planting this spring for sure and it's just going to depend on how many sponsors we get if we can do harvesting and how much harvesting.

“This is our first year of operation this spring and a lot of people are excited about it and people come to me with new ideas every day,”<\p>he continued. “The organization is run entirely by volunteers - 100 percent volunteer and when I say 100 percent volunteer, I mean everyone is a volunteer; myself, the board of directors, the people designing the brochure, the people doing the website, our attorney - there's not one penny of payroll.

“I refer to us as the Habitat for Farmers, working much like the Habitat for Humanity that provides housing assistance. Any funds received do go toward the end result of helping farmers in a crisis,” he added.

In addition to getting farmers to apply for assistance, Gross is also working to get individuals to become sponsors.

“A lot of these people will see all these businesses as sponsors, but it isn't just for big businesses, individuals can participate and it's tax deductible. We have a gift matching program, where there is an anonymous person in North Dakota who is offering to match the first $10,000 of donations by individuals for the 2006 Farm Rescue program,” Gross said. “So we are trying to get individuals, as well as the smaller businesses, to donate.”

For more information about making a donation or applying for the spring planting assistance program, visit the Farm Rescue web site at http://www.farmrescue.org or call 701-526-0947. Remember, the application deadline is March 15.

Reprinted with permission of Farm and Ranch Guide. February 02, 2006