Posted July 11, 2023 | By Michaela Spangler
Taking Care of the Ag Community, One Farm Family at a Time
Nutrien Ag Solutions was one of several sponsors on the ground to support Farm Rescue as the organization provided aid to its 1,000th farm family in Palestine, Illinois on Tuesday, June 27.
“It was humbling to see so many volunteers and the equipment provided, and to view the devastation from the tornado,” says Jeff Buckman, Chemical Marketing Manager for the Southern Illinois Division. “Having an organization like Farm Rescue there to help is a huge relief to a family who has suffered a catastrophic loss to help them keep proceeding forward with the farm while getting things back in order and can make the difference between missing a season or having a crop.”
Assisting growers and their families since 2006, this harvest activation was a milestone for Farm Rescue. The Pifer family became the 1,000th farm family to receive assistance from the organization. Brad Pifer owns and operates the farm that was the site of the milestone harvest.
The farm was hit by a tornado that was ranked as a 3 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF3) earlier this spring. Tornadoes are ranked from a scale of one to five, with five being the most severe. The tornado destroyed all of the grain storage, equipment, and buildings on the farm. Brad and his family also lost their home to this devastating storm.
Without the equipment to harvest his winter wheat crop, Brad knew he needed assistance. He and his family applied to Farm Rescue in the hopes that the organization could help with the harvest.
“We were ready to start the planting season and we realized we had not a single piece of equipment in springtime that we could use,” Brad says in an interview with My Wabash Valley. “It was a huge relief stress-wise to know that we had them willing to come help us, take some of that burden off of us.”
With Farm Rescue’s help, Brad’s winter wheat crop has been fully harvested.
“Now we can refocus on the next stage of rebuilding my house, the farm sheds, and hopefully the farm can move forward and eventually go back to normal,” Brad says in the same interview.
About Farm Rescue
Nutrien began sponsoring Farm Rescue in August 2023 with a donation to support Farm Rescue with the operation costs of helping farms and ranches. If you would like to join Nutrien in contributing towards Farm Rescue’s mission, please visit Grow our Community.
“It is great to give back and be part of the communities which we work and live in. This shows our support for our customers, employees, and an understanding that we are truly part of the community,” says Jeff.
Farm Rescue has been helping farm families stuck by disaster since 2006. The organization steps in to provide free planting, haying, harvesting, commodity hauling and livestock feeding when a grower is unable due to natural disaster, illness, or injury. Farm Rescue currently serves growers in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
“Farm Rescue is a great organization that shares our passion for people. We are proud to be supporters of the Farm Rescue team and are so excited that they have reached the milestone of serving 1,000 farm families,” says Rob Clayton, Senior Vice President of Nutrien Ag Solutions in North America. “We look forward to continuing to support the work they do to take care of growers and their families when they need it the most.
To learn more about Farm Rescue, check out the organization’s website. If you know of a farming family in need of extra assistance, application information can be found on the website or by calling 701-252-2017.
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