Farm Rescue Back at Work

An injury or an illness can be the difference between staying on the land or having to call it quits for some family farmers However the group Farm Rescue is reaching out to those in need and has expanded its reach on the farm Shaun Sipma caught up with the group near Turtle Lake Like a symbol representing the very best that North Dakota stands for the Farm Rescue flag flies proudly atop the John Deer machinery as it weaves it s way through fields near Turtle Lake These are the fields that Wes Weible has worked for 27 years - through good years and bad Wes was always able to get the crop in time but last November time took a back seat Wes Weible Farms Near Turtle Lake My wife had a heart transplant in November we were down there for three months during that Then every month we ve been going down there for checkups the last seven out of eight weeks we ve been down to Rochester for checkups All that time Wes was by Sharon s side back and forth to Rochester both of their lives on hold not sure exactly how the work back home was going to get done Then Wes heard about Farm Rescue Wes Weible One of the neighbors the guy that cleaned grain for me said I think you qualify call up Farm Rescue I saw their adds at the farm show and heard of them last year some of the farmers that worked for Farm Rescue had helped 10 farmers get their crops in the ground in 2006 and the organization was taking applications for the 2007 season Wes Weible We came back from Rochester from one of those appointments and there was a message on my home phone to call Bill and I called him and that s when he told me that the board decided that I would be one of their candidates to do some work for Sharon Weible Recovering from Heart Transplant When he applied we were going three days out of the week and we were worried how we were going to get the crop in Bill Gross Farm Rescue Founder This is the first of its kind for Farm Rescue that we selected where a spouse was ill And we felt with all the medical care they encountered they needed that we should assist them And question of would there be time to put all the crop in was answered Wednesday Farm Rescue rolled into the farm yard and set out to plan 600 acres of spring wheat for the Weibles Sharon Weible I guess I m just overwhelmed you know at the generosity of the people who came to help this guy Wes Weible These guys come in here and work around the clock and be done in a couple days It s just a lot of stress off your mind when you worry about other things For a man who farms drives school bus volunteered on the Turtle Lake Ambulance Squad and Fire Department for 20 years headed up the towns Centennial last year and is the President of the McLean County Farmers Union - Wes can finally take a moment to focus on the future with his wife and family knowing that Farm Rescue is at the wheel and his crop is in good hands Near Turtle Lake Shaun Sipma KX News We will have more on Farm Rescue and the volunteers that make up the organization next week here on KX News