Idaho Farmers Band Together To Help Fellow Farmer Save Potato Crop from Early Freeze
The power of community saved a crop of iconic Idaho potatoes this past Wednesday.
According to KBOI-TV, a freeze was predicted to hit the area of Hamer, Idaho, last week, pressuring local potato farmers to harvest their crop as quickly as possible.
The deadline to save the potatoes was coming up fast, but one of the farmers in the area still had quite a few spuds in the ground.
If the potatoes remained in the ground when the freeze hit, they would have been ruined.
When some of the surrounding farmers heard that one of their own still had potatoes to harvest, they banded together to come to their aid.
Jason Larson, one of the many community members that answered the call, captured video of the convoy arriving at the farm.
Many of the locals who came to the rescue had been up late into the night the day before to get their own potatoes harvested, but that didn’t stop them from swarming their neighbor’s farm with workers and equipment.
People started showing up at 11 a.m. and got all the potatoes harvested by 8 p.m.
‘It was just kind of neat to see everyone help.’ said Larson. ‘It was pretty cool to help someone in need.’
Larson told CNN that his farm had sent around 25 employees to help out.
According to his estimation, about 9 harvesters and 50 people showed up.
Brett Jensen Farms shared Larson’s video on Facebook with this caption: “Huge thanks to our great neighbors from the Hamer Community for helping us get our spuds out!!”
“What people do is they help their neighbor,” Larson said. “There really wasn’t a second thought about it.”
The potatoes saved were worth several hundred thousand dollars.
“This is a story about helping your neighbors,” Larson added. “This kind of thing goes on every day across America.”
Farmers have developed a reputation for their courage, grit and caring hearts.
In July of this year, farmers in Washington came to the aid of a neighbor suffering from Stage 4 skin cancer.
Sixty farmers in his community harvested his wheat crop in six hours — a feat that would have taken the man three weeks on his own.
Miles Pfaff, a man present for the harvest, praised the work ethic and dedication of farmers.
‘Farmers don’t quit,” he wrote on Facebook. ‘They don’t retire. They’re tough. Even when told they’re quite sick, they still lace up their boots, throw on that ball cap, and go out and farm as long as their bodies will allow. Day in and day out. They know no different. It’s their land, their livelihood, it’s what they care for, and it’s everything to them.
“But there comes a time when farmers do quit. They quit what they’re doing, put aside their own obligations, their weekends, when one of their own needs help. They donate their time, their diesel, and their equipment. They do whatever it takes to ensure a fellow farmer can finish his harvest and get the crops in. The crops he’s worked all year, tirelessly for.”
“It’s rare sight,” Pfaff concluded, “A tangible, palpable feeling and environment. And it’s living, breathing proof that community, compassion, and goodwill still exist.”
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