Farm Rescue

We like to think of it as a distinctly American value to have the willingness to go all-out to help family, friends or neighbors, and yes, even strangers in need. In the heartland, where crops are grown and livestock tended, challenges are plenty. Folks can find themselves in need of a helping hand. When things start going wrong on the family farm, the need may be greater than what a friend, neighbor or family member can offer.

In one state, a group of farmers, tired of watching their colleagues fall on hard times has banded together to help them save their farms and their livelihood.

Ron Tschepen can tell you when it started, "Well, I was having chest pains and I was short of breath and I went to my local doctor and he scheduled me for a stress test in Camden, North Dakota, my local hospital and I flunked it."

Flunking that test meant that farmer Ron Teschepen was headed straight to the operating room for quadruple bypass surgery. That was bad enough, but even worse, it laid him low at a critical time - when his wheat crop was coming in. Ron needed help and help arrived just in time in the form of retired farmer named Gene Spichke and a handful of other folks. They spent days in the cabs of combines harvesting Ron's wheat crop. Who are these "angels in the heartland"? They are volunteer members of Farm Rescue, an organization made up of farmers helping farmers.

Farm Rescue was founded in 2006 by Bill Gross, a North Dakota farm boy who, once grown up, took to the sky as a pilot for UPS. Still, he's kept one foot on the ground. His roots in agriculture run deep and he knows how sickness, accidents or tornadoes can wipe out hard-working farm families. He wanted to help out and Farm Rescue was born.

As Bill says, "A farmer has had to have a major illness, injury or natural disaster occur to them and Farm Rescue is just to help a farmer through a tough time. So they can continue their operation."

The volunteers at Farm Rescue make it very clear that they are here to lend a hand to farmers in need-not give them a handout. So there's a strict application process that requires applicants to divulge a lot of information, including financial, before they can be selected. Farm Rescue wants to make sure that the farmer is not financially capable of hiring people to come in to do the work. So far, the organization has helped more than thirty farmers plant and harvest crops across several Midwestern states and Montana. Since the mission is to aid people truly in need and spread the help around, this is intended as a one-time fix. Bill Gross adds, "A farmer can only apply once every three years so it is meant to be a one-time only to help them through a tough time so they can continue their operation."

Farm Rescue depends on donations to keep going. The money buys fuel and parts for all its combines, harvesters, and tractors which have also been donated. Because of liability, Farm Rescue rarely uses the farmer's equipment. It's hard to figure out who benefits more: the farmers on the receiving end or the Farm Rescue volunteers.

Ron saw them as a lifesaver, "Thank God, all the work they been doin' for me. Took a load off of me so I don't have to worry so much, ya know." Ron's wife Gerry agrees, "He can relax a little bit. He's resting. He's just doing walking like he supposed to. Otherwise he'd be up pacing."

Farm Rescue volunteer Gene Spichke enjoys the work and helping others, "Well, back when I farmed and farms were a lot closer together. There were a lot more farmers than there are now. If a farmer got sick or whatever happened to him-got hurt-the neighbors would get together, put the crop in or take it off. Now farms are few and far between. Those days are gone. As long as I'm able, I'll keep helping".

Farm Rescue's Hometown
Jamestown, North Dakota, home to Farm Rescue, is also home to the National Buffalo Museum. The museum and the city's huge buffalo statue draw nearly one hundred thousand visitors a year. It's hard to miss the buffalo. The cement sculpture is 26 feet tall and 46 feet long!