Farm Rescue, a nonprofit based in Horace, North Dakota, is working to help family farmers and ranchers when they experience an illness, injury, or natural disaster.
Founded in 2005, Farm Rescue has rescued hundreds of family ranches and farms from life-altering states of emergency. The organization uses donation-based funding and volunteer labor to assist family farms with planting, harvesting, and livestock feeding throughout the Midwest.
农场救援计划经理丹·埃尔德曼(Dan Erdmann)告诉《食品坦克》(Food Tank),他说:“我们的使命是基于邻居的古老概念。”w88优德老虎机平台“我们的帮助只是比道路上的农场更远的地方。”Farm Rescue的志愿者计划吸引了来自几乎所有50个州的1000多名志愿者。
“Having a sufficient labor force on a family farm can easily be the difference between continuing operations and ending a family’s legacy,” Erdmann tells Food Tank. “Every member of a family farming operation is vital to its success.”
埃尔德曼说,意外的危机可能是一个家庭最大的财务困扰来源之一,尤其是在农场的高峰生产率季节。他解释说,由于家庭农场经常依靠少数人来维持其运营,因此即使是一些农场救援志愿者也可以成为他们的生命线。
对于尼基·约翰逊(Nikki Johansen)来说,正是丈夫杰米(Jamie)对大肠杆菌和肾脏衰竭的诊断使她的家人的生计在2018年处于危险之中。
和her husband out of commission and unable to plant crops, Johansen was forced to consider the possibility of losing an entire year’s worth of income. “If you don’t get your crop seeded, you don’t get an income,” Johansen tells Food Tank.
After a friend submitted an application to Farm Rescue on the Johansens’ behalf, the family was approved in a matter of days. “The volunteers we encountered were the most amazing people,” Johansen says. That season, Farm Rescue seeded half of the Johansen’s crop – over 800 acres – in four days. “Without Farm Rescue’s help, none of it would have happened,” says Johansen.
埃尔德曼(Erdmann)解释了中西部家庭农业的地理和孤立性如何使家庭在需要时很难找到劳动。
和少于小农场乘坐美国农村景观大型的公司农场覆盖了越来越多的英亩土地,随时可用的农场劳动力正在减少。埃尔德曼说:“在人口稠密的地区提供的许多便利设施的情况下,招募帮助这些农村农场和社区可能是一个挑战。”
While政府赞助的援助计划继续受益于美国中西部的大型企业农场,像约翰逊这样的小农户家庭农民感到经常被忽略。但是,通过基于社区的危机缓解方法,Farm Rescue希望将新的生命注入该地区的本地支持系统。
“Farm Rescue is not a long-term solution for farmers,” Erdmann tells Food Tank, “but rather a life preserver to keep them afloat amidst the rough waters of crisis, and hopefully, extend their livelihood to the next generation.”
约翰森希望能使家人的农场运作足够长的时间,以看到它传给儿子。约翰森解释说:“他要去大学进行农场和牧场管理。”“对于我们来说,保持农场的前进至关重要,以便他有一天可以携带它。”
Photo courtesy of Farm Rescue
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