Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Farm Rescue program in N.D. is truly impressive

Farm Rescue program in N.D. is truly impressive

Jun 01, 2007 - 04:06:30 CDT

For a farmer laid up, as the result of illness, accident or extraordinary circumstances, being unable to be on a tractor seeding in the spring can be devastating. No planting. No crop. The price at the elevator doesn’t matter.

Farm Rescue, an all-volunteer, nonprofit outfit, will put in a crop for a farmer who can’t because of heart trouble, back injury, cancer treatments, stroke or, say, the results of a tornado. It isn’t set up to help farmers who are in purely financial trouble. It’s a remarkable program that enjoys and deserves strong and growing support. It operates primarily in North Dakota.

Farm Rescue’s organizer, Bill Gross, lives in Seattle, flies planes for UPS and lives out his dream in the fields of his native North Dakota. He has convinced big-hearted friends, concerned ag leaders and generous businesses to pool resources to help farmers in a tough spot get their crops in the ground.

Planting bees have a strong tradition in North Dakota. Farm neighbors can be counted on to help each other get the crop in if calamity strikes.

But farms are growing larger, and circumstances relating to equipment, seed and markets have become more complex. These changes suggested to Gross the need for Farm Rescue.

Instead of neighboring farmers converging to help with an odd assortment of tractors and planters, Farm Rescue arrives with a state-of-the-art tractor and planter capable of planting 500 or 600 acres a day, depending upon circumstances.

Gross and the volunteers know the business. They come to work. Typically, the farmer has the seed ready, as well as a map of where to plant, when the volunteers arrive. When the Farm Rescue arrives with its flags and banners, it draws neighbors and volunteers from all around.

The state-of-the-art equipment used by Farm Rescue doesn’t come cheap. It represents hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It means knocking on the doors to corporate board rooms and pitching helping farmers to the men and women who control the purse strings of business and industry. It means looking professional. It means marketing.

Gross tells Farm Rescue’s story well, because he must. The volunteer effort needs cash to pay fuel bills and pay the other expenses that are necessary for a statewide effort.

The Tribune spent the better part of two months in the field with Farm Rescue. Stories appeared in the Tribune Sunday and Tuesday, and a multimedia online reporting project, completed in conjunction with the Farm and Ranch Guide, has been launched on www.bismarcktribune.com. Editors and reporters saw firsthand the work that Farm Rescue does.

It’s impressive.

News > Opinion

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Comments

well wrote on Jun 2, 2007 1:01 PM:

" I agree with 'publish'. some of these farms need to be checked into. I know of several that put the maximum amount of acres in the man's name, the wife's name and children's names. so they EACH get the maximum government payment instead of EACH FARM getting the maximum. its people like this who are ripping off the government programs; and in turn can afford to rent land away from the HONEST farmer. the bigger the farmer...........the bigger their welfare check!!! "

FARMER FRED wrote on Jun 1, 2007 6:42 PM:

" Man...I'm so glad I'm getting rich out here off of farm subsidies. I work 16 hour work days 7 days a week in cold, hot, wet, and dry conditions. I am not scamming the system...I am working my butt off to keep food on your table. Yes, government subsidies are a part of farming. If it weren't, your cost of food would be ridiculous, plus this is the governments way of encouraging certain crops to be produced. What I think is ridiculous is you lazy town people who work a whole whopping 8 hours a day and then think you should have health care handed to you on a plate. Get real! The lazy/poor should get a job and work for a living so they can afford health benefits. 99% of farmers are not a drain on the government. We do not get food stamps, fuel assistance, medicaid, dental assistance, or any other hand outs that most people take advantage of. Now, tell me, honestly. If the government offered you a...let's call it "bonus" check to plant a particular type of grass in your front yard and as long as you maintained it and proved that you were growing that particular type of grass, you got a check for $1000 per acre. You'd take it, not? In the farm subsidies game, as a farmer, you'd be a fool not to get involved...I guess a fool or a very short lived farmer! "

Very Sad wrote on Jun 1, 2007 2:41 PM:

" We pay tax money to millionaire farmers, but there is no money for health care for the poor, what is wrong with this picture? The same Republicans that are in love with farm subsidies get elected in North Dakota to the legislature and deny everyone else a decent life, while they vote to exempt farmers from every kind of tax and law imaginable. These people have brought us a president who is bankrupting the country and killing off our young, God bless them. "

Publish it wrote on Jun 1, 2007 1:24 PM:

" Why doesn't the Tribune publish the top ten farmers in each county that rake in the subsidies? It would open some eyes, and make a good article. However, the Tribune would not want to offend it's Republican buddies. The Tribune might also point out how these people scam the system by putting land in the name of several family members so they can collect more. Also what about hiding behind corporate names so nobody knows who is getting the money. "

Help the poor farmer, leave the rich alone wrote on Jun 1, 2007 12:08 PM:

" If the wealthy farmers would quit abusing the farm subsidy system there would be plenty of money for everyone. The family of Lt. Gov Jack Dowrimple has taken in 1,311,000 dollars since 1995. Does this man really need farm subsidies? Why isn't this money used to help farmers who need it? Strange that the same Republicans that will not support wages for the poor take all the subsidies they can get. "

A Local Man wrote on Jun 1, 2007 10:05 AM:

" A local man sold property to Basin for over three million dollars, now he is collecting over a half million dollars per year in farm subsidies, go figure. "

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