Wherever a farm is experiencing a crisis, Farm Rescue will be there. Whenever a natural disaster strikes a farm community, Farm Rescue will be there. If a farm family needs a helping hand to ensure it continues for more generations to come, yes, you can bet Farm Rescue will be there.

Soaring high above in the skies in a Boeing 747 as an airline captain for UPS, Bill Gross had a good view of the farming landscape in the Upper Midwest. Growing up on a farm in North Dakota, he understood the financial risks and hardships of running a family-owned operation. To give back, Gross founded Farm Rescue in 2005 with a vision of helping family farms and ranches endure crises and have the opportunity to continue operating and pass the farm on to the next generation. Gross gathered a handful of volunteers, borrowed some equipment and got to work.

Nearly 20 years later, Farm Rescue has served more than 1,000 families through unexpected illness or injury and disaster. Initially beginning rescues in the Dakotas and Minnesota, Farm Rescue soon expanded its footprint into Corn Belt states in 2011, growing from roughly a dozen cases a year to an average of 75 cases. Today, they average between 80-120 cases annually. In addition to on-farm assistance, Farm Rescue also answers the call when natural disasters hit rural areas.

“We step in with our volunteer base and our sponsored equipment and we take care of the needs on their farms,” said Tim Sullivan, Farm Rescue’s senior development officer. “Anything we can do to keep their livelihood afloat while they get through their crisis.”

When Mike Powers, who farms corn, soybeans and beef cattle near Mankato, suffered a stroke in the spring of 2021, he needed time to recover and couldn’t yet operate machinery heading into the planting season. His family reached out to Farm Rescue and was swiftly approved to get the help they needed to get a crop in the ground.

“It was such a relief to have their assistance. They were in and out in two, three days and did an amazing job,” Powers said. “Without their help I would’ve been lost. It saved this farm, it really did.”

Angels in blue It can be logistically difficult to assist farmers in multiple states at the same time with sometimes similar and sometimes different needs. One farm family may need help with a soybean harvest in Minnesota, while another may need an emergency load of hay in Missouri. But with multiple hubs for storing equipment and an army of angels in blue, a nickname given to their over 700 skilled volunteers and their signature blue work shirts, the superheroes at Farm Rescue always seem to find a way to get it done.

“You won’t find a more humble group. They do this purely out of the kindness of their heart, and they aren’t looking for any recognition of their own. It’s all about the families that they’re helping,” said Sullivan. “That’s what drives our staff, is seeing how much these folks give. They truly are angels in blue.”

But just like any farming operation, Farm Rescue and their volunteers are not immune to the hazards of farming. “We still have setbacks and delays,” Sullivan said. “We can’t control what Mother Nature has in store for us and although we are working with new equipment, there are still some minor break downs and such to deal with.”

Farm Rescue’s future

The success and growth of Farm Rescue has happened organically over the years with their work speaking for themselves. Farm Rescue currently operates in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska and Kansas. Now this summer they are preparing to begin deploying Farm Rescue teams in Wisconsin for the first time ever. In the future they hope to expand their assistance further east.

Expanding to a new state takes time, on average about two to three years to acquire funding, acquire equipment and line up volunteers. Sullivan estimates that in the next five years, Farm Rescue could double in size.

“Our sponsors and supporters want us to continue to grow and they are willing to help us to do that,” he said. “Finding volunteers is actually the easy part because there are so many people willing to serve our organization as word has gotten out about what we are doing.”

As a nonprofit, Farm Rescue relies solely on sponsorships and donations to keep them going down the road. Many of those sponsorships are in-kind, such as the tractors and combines they use in the field, the pickups and trucks they drive down the road, and sometimes even the tires on those vehicles. In summer 2023 and 2024, the Clay-Wilkin County Soybean & Corn Growers used soy checkoff funds to donate multiple sets of soy-based Goodyear tires to Farm Rescue to help them get down the road.

“Many farms in our area are on their fourth, fifth or even sixth generation, and Farm Rescue is there to help families ensure they have a crop in the ground or the bin during times of crisis and can pass the farm on to the next generation,” said Board President Jeremy Tischer, who farms in Breckenridge and serves as a director with the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association. “Farm Rescue supports farmers, and these soy-based tires support farmers as well. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

To learn more about Farm Rescue’s mission or to apply for assistance, visit farmrescue.org.