Since 2005, Farm Rescue has helped many farmers in need, as medical or environmental crises hit. The organization initially helped in planting and harvest cases, but has evolved to include providing hay and hauling commodities, as well as expanding their operations to more states around the Midwest.
Tim Sullivan, executive director with Farm Rescue, said the organization will reach 1,000 families helped this spring. They have partnered with companies and dealers, such as John Deere, to provide equipment as they continue to coordinate volunteers and assistance to those who need it.
IFT: What is the mission of Farm Rescue?
SULLIVAN: Farm Rescue is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides assistance free of charge to farm and ranch families who have experienced a major injury, illness or natural disaster (flood, wildfire, drought or storms). Our dedicated volunteers, we call them “Angels In Blue,” come from every state in our nation to provide the needed labor necessary to carry our operations.
We utilize sponsored equipment to offer planting, haying, harvest, commodity and hay hauling and livestock feeding assistance to these families. We offer a hand-up, not a hand-out to assist these families and protect their livelihood and allow them time to recover from crises.
IFT: How did Farm Rescue get started? What were its goals?
SULLIVAN: Bill Gross is the founder and president of Farm Rescue. Bill grew up on his family’s farming and ranching operation in central North Dakota in the ’70s and early ’80s. During the time when he would be taking over the farm, the economy was hit hard with high interest rates and the ’80s farm crisis changed the trajectory of his career path. It was clear that Bill could no longer rely on the family farm for his future, so he became a commercial airline pilot.
In early 2005 Bill was on a long flight and mentioned to his co-pilot that when he retires he would like to lease a tractor and help farm families that are struggling with a health crisis. Too many farm families are lost to injury and illness each year, and the landscape of family farms is changing. Farms are getting larger and families are getting smaller through each year.
At this point, Bill’s co-pilot turned to him and said “Why wait until you retire?” and that is what it took for Bill to form Farm Rescue as a nonprofit. In early 2006, the first family farm cases were helped by Bill and a few volunteers. At this same time many business and corporate sponsors joined in to help with the cause and Farm Rescue was off and running.
IFT: What is the most common reason people apply for assistance?
SULLIVAN: Injury or illness is by far the most cases we assist with annually. Broken bones, surgery, heart attacks, brain trauma, paralysis and cancer diagnosis are what is most common. Natural disasters are where we help many farm families in the same area that are affected. We haul hay to families with livestock for flood, wildfire and drought relief. Depending on the size of the natural disaster, several families can be helped from one event.
IFT: Since 2005, the world has evolved. How has Farm Rescue had to change?
SULLIVAN: Initially Farm Rescue volunteers assisted with only planting and harvest family cases. The request for help has changed, as the requested help for haying and commodity hauling was soon approved. Livestock feeding assistance was added shortly after the third year of operations. Our approval process has been streamlined for proper vetting of each case request. This process has made it less daunting for families to accept our help.
IFT: Who is eligible for assistance from Farm Rescue?
SULLIVAN: Any family farm or ranch can apply for assistance through our website, FarmRescue.org, or by calling our main office phone, 701-252-2017. We have grown our footprint to serve farm and ranch families in the following eight states: Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.
We continue to push for more states to be added over time. When adding a new state, we make sure that we have the adequate number of available volunteers, equipment and funding necessary to safely provide our mission to the farm and ranch families served.
IFT: Did COVID bring in more requests for assistance?
SULLIVAN: Like any business or nonprofit organization, COVID-19 did affect the total number of families that applied for assistance in 2020. Our volunteers were limited due to the initial travel restrictions imposed by national, state and local governments. Through these restrictions we learned to pivot on using more local volunteers and relied on equipment partners in those areas to help support our mission during that first year of the pandemic.
We more than made up for those restricted case numbers in 2021 and 2022 as we had more requests due to illness because of COVID. We learned much about our operations over the pandemic and have improved our efficiency and safety because of these changes. We will hit 1,000 families helped since our inception this spring. This is a huge milestone for Farm Rescue and the farm and ranch communities that we serve.
IFT: How would people be able to assist if they are interested in helping with labor?
SULLIVAN: Anyone can become a volunteer for Farm Rescue. Experience and career backgrounds vary greatly with our volunteer base. Currently we have over 500 volunteers in our registry with over 200 utilized each year on family cases. Through Q&A, we determine each volunteer’s level of expertise in operating farm equipment. Many that are not as experienced still help as a shuttle driver or parts runner for breakdowns. Our volunteers also attend many farm events each year to spread the word about our mission.
This is more of a grassroots effort, as we have a very small marketing budget. Over 95% of our annual fundraising revenue goes directly back into supporting the family farm and ranch cases we accept annually. We have interested individuals go to our website or call our office to register. Farm Rescue staff and lead volunteers provide the equipment and safety training necessary for assisting with our operations. We need more volunteers to be “Good Samaritans” for the families in crisis that we serve through the Farm Rescue mission.
