WOLVERTON (AP) — A Minnesota farmer who broke his back, fell victim to COVID-19 and recently underwent surgery will nonetheless have corn and soybeans to harvest this fall thanks to an agricultural organization that helps those in need.

The non-profit Farm Rescue helped Robert Nord plant his fields in North Dakota, not far from his homestead in Wolverton, Minnesota.

“Being a farmer we never want to ask for any help and when help is offered we sometimes are hesitant to take people up on it,” said Nord, who has been farming for 30 years.

Dan Erdmann, program manager for Farm Rescue, said the group was created to help people like Nord. Farm Rescue has helped more than 700 farmer families since its inception in North Dakota in 2005.

“Robert has kind of been through the ringer the last few months. He was attacked by a cow which led to a broken back, shortly thereafter he contracted COVID and shortly after that, just in the last few weeks, he underwent gallbladder surgery. So, he’s been dealing with a lot and it’s kind of that time of year where you need to be in the field and need to be getting things done,” Erdmann said.

Farm Rescue volunteer Ron Donahue said he’s glad to be able to help others in the farming community.

“I grew up on a farm and that’s what you do. You help people when they have needs,” Donohue said. “So, to be able to come in with very good equipment that’s precision equipment it’s very accurate and we can cover a lot of acres in a short period of time.”

Nord told KVRR-TV that he’s grateful to receive such support from other farmers. The farm is his family’s sole source of income, so getting the crops in on time is a life saver.

“It’s overwhelming. It’s one of those things that it’s hard to put into words how thankful we are for their help,” Nord said.