farmrescueTHUMBBISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The Farm Rescue nonprofit in the Upper Midwest is approaching another milestone.
 
     The volunteer organization based in North Dakota will help its 300th farm family in the region by the end of the year.
 
     Farm Rescue plants and harvests crops for farmers in need in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and eastern Montana. It’s been operating since 2006, supported by donations, business sponsors and about 1,000 people who volunteer to help with fieldwork in the spring, summer and fall.
 
     It helped its 100th farm family in 2009 and its 200th in 2012.
 
     Founder Bill Gross says if Farm Rescue can increase funding, it hopes to expand assistance in a year or two. The organization currently is helping about 50 farm families each year, on an annual cash budget of about $450,000.