[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 148 (Thursday, September 29, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S6263]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        RECOGNIZING FARM RESCUE

 Mr. HOEVEN. Madam President, today I wish to recognize Farm 
Rescue for assisting 400 farm and ranch families during times of 
crisis. Farm Rescue provides assistance to farming families who are 
suffering from a major injury, illness, or natural disaster by lending 
a helping hand with planting, harvesting crops, or providing haying 
assistance. They also assist producers with hauling hay and grain if a 
farmer or rancher cannot do these critical tasks. Farm Rescue's relief 
efforts have come in times of natural disaster, like tornadoes, and 
personal crisis, such as cancer treatments, spinal cord injuries, and 
lost limbs.
  In rural communities, it is common for folks to help one another when 
in need, and this organization epitomizes that spirit. Farm Rescue was 
founded by Bill Gross in 2006, a native North Dakota farm boy who, 
while working as a full-time UPS pilot, donates his free time to run 
this organization. Mr. Gross has molded Farm Rescue into a one-of-a-
kind nonprofit organization whose sole purpose is to aid farmers and 
ranchers who need a little help in the midst of a crisis. Farm Rescue 
actually does the critical labor the farmer or rancher needs to get 
done, while the assisted producer provides the crop inputs, like seed, 
fertilizer, and fuel
  Since 2006, Farm Rescue has assisted hundreds of farm families in the 
Midwest, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Montana, and 
Minnesota. This year alone, Farm Rescue has already helped 50 families, 
and they are still in the field assisting more. Its operations are 
primarily completed by a volunteer labor force that come from all over 
the country to help, and many of those volunteers are retired farmers 
seeking to lend their help and expertise to those in need.
  Farm Rescue's first case in 2006 was to assist a farmer whose hand 
was severed in an auger accident. In 2012, they harvested for a family 
near Wyndmere, ND, marking their 200th case, after the farmer fell off 
his semitrailer and broke vertebrae in his neck. One hundred cases 
later, in 2014, Farm Rescue helped a Fergus Falls, MN, man with harvest 
while he underwent treatment for blood cancer. Two years later, Farm 
Rescue is now completing its 400th case by enabling a family with a 
loved one suffering from cancer to complete harvest.
  It must be a great relief to farming and ranching families to know 
that, if an unexpected medical diagnosis complicates spring planting or 
multiple lengthy trips to doctor appointments make harvesting the fall 
crop near impossible, there is an organization that will coordinate 
volunteers to come out and lend a neighborly helping hand. Farm Rescue 
is making a positive contribution to the agriculture community all over 
the United States, and I am proud to be able to recognize this 
organization. Farm Rescue is a powerful reminder of what Americans can 
achieve when they work together to help each other in times of 
need.

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