PEORIA, Ill. — Farm Rescue recently expanded its services to Illinois and is now working toward adding Indiana to its list by 2025.  

The 501 © (3) nonprofit organization provides free assistance to farm and ranch families who have experienced a major injury, illness or natural disaster

Tim Sullivan, executive director of Farm Rescue, made the announcement. The organization has been helping farm families in crisis since 2005.

“We’ve been helping farm and ranch families going through times of crisis including having someone sick or injured, or have experienced flood, fire or another kind of disaster,” said Sullivan said. “We’ll come in with our volunteer group, with volunteers from every state, in support of these families who are in need of our help and services. We do anything we can do to help keep them afloat until they are back on their feet.”

Services provided by Farm Rescue volunteer workers can include planting, harvesting, livestock feeding, and hauling of hay and commodities. Their work is supported by the agriculture industry through grants and assistance provided by such companies as John Deere and Wyffels Corn Hybrids of Geneseo, Illinois. 

“We have many supporters of Farm Rescue in the Peoria area, and in many states. John Deere helps us with financial aid as well as by providing equipment that we can move to different locations,” said Sullivan. ‘We have volunteers ready for next spring’s planting, but we’re always looking for more who can help us throughout the year.”

Donations from individuals, families and smaller agribusinesses are essential to keeping the mission of Farm Rescue moving forward. The organization has supported more than 1,000 farm families through its mission to date, utilizing around 350 seasonal volunteers who assist an average of around 120 farm families per year since 2005. 

“These (smaller) donations help feed and house our volunteers while they are in the field supporting farm families. Many of these individuals come from a long way away, and when they are on a case they are usually with us for two to three weeks, if not more. They’ll travel hundreds of miles and help five or six families during that time,” said Sullivan, who described the typical Farm Rescue volunteer as someone who is actively associated with or retired from farming, the equipment business or the trucking industry. 

“CDL drivers are a huge need for us,” he said. “We’re transporting large equipment over state lines to get things where they need to go, so anybody who has that ability is greatly needed.” 

Headquartered in Horace, North Dakota, Farm Rescue currently serves farm and ranch communities in eight states, including Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana. Most recently, their reach was expanded eastward into Illinois. 

During the 41st Greater Peoria Farm Show, held November 29 through December 1 at the Peoria Civic Center, Sullivan told Farm World the organization would soon expand its service boundaries further eastward to include Indiana. “We are working towards adding Indiana to our eight-state coverage region by 2025,” he said.

Farm Rescue’s informational booth in the Peoria Civic Center was sponsored by and shared with Wyffels Hybrids. On the first day of the GPFS, many Peoria farmers could be seen stopping by the booth to learn about the non-profit group and check out the latest corn hybrids Wyffels has to offer.

“This year Wyffels is excited to partner with Farm Rescue, which is a grassroots volunteer organization that had its roots in North Dakota but has now expanded into the Midwest,” said Doug Nelson, a central Illinois sales representative for Wyffels Hybrids. “We are a financial and marketing sponsor of Farm Rescue, and we are partnering with them at farm shows so that they can better get the word out about their efforts in Illinois.”  

To learn more about Farm Rescue, visit FarmRescue.org. To donate to their efforts, visit farmrescuefoundation.org.