Farm Rescue Helps Farmers

Apr 19 2008 7:43AM
KXMBTV Bismarck

It's one sight our reporter says she'll never forget.

Tractors, drills and plenty of helping hands...they aren't worried about their own crops, but the crops of farmers who are in need.

Sarah Gustin takes us into one field, where the volunteers work hard...as if it was their own livelyhood.

Large, new equipment, state of the art technology and plenty of willing workers

It sounds like every farmers dream, but it is just one organization trying to make Jack Horner's spring planting hopes become a reality

(Jack Horner / Wishek Farmer) "Well, it was one burden off my back. I didn't want to rent my land out and I rent land from my aunt and uncle and if I rent that out. I loose it forever. And I got my own farm at home and I want to keep that too." You can see and feel the impact Farm Rescue makes on both hearts and fields

(Bill Gross / Founder) "We don't give any money out to farmers, we get the work done." Gross says he and his team have stayed awake for 30 hours at a time

So they can finish up at one farm and move on to the next

(Bill Gross / Founder) "Myself, I have spent as much as 14 to 16 hours a day and I usually try to take the night shift." (Sarah Gustin / KX News) "Gross says that they are runnng with two outfits. One outift can cover up to 600 acres a day, which means they can cover alot of ground when they are going 24/7." Farm rescue made their first pass in the fields on April 7th and they haven't stopped since. Gross says they are planning on finishing up in this area early next week. Then it is off to the Jamestown area...to help more farmers in need...which is what they do best

(Bill Krumweiede) "It was a long winter I was waiting for the frost to get out so we could get going, but I wish we could get some rain. If the farmers wouldn't get sick or get hurt. We wouldn't be going, so I guess that would be the best thing to be out of work for that reason, but that doesn't seem to happen." Southeast of Napolean, reporting for KX news, I am Sarah Gustin.

Farm rescue is helping 26 farmers get their crops in this spring.

That's almost double the number they were able to help last year.

Gross says Farm Rescue is a non-profit organization and that their spring planting efforts are made possible by donations from individuals, small businesses, and corporations.