March 31, 2023, is a day Clint Whetstine and his family won’t soon forget. After spending most of the morning and afternoon vaccinating hogs with his uncle Ed on the family’s homestead farm, Clint and his son returned to their nearby home to get cleaned up for the evening. The threat of severe weather had been in the news all day and a tornado warning had now been issued for their area. The Whetstines stepped out on their deck to get a better view of the storm and quickly spotted the EF4 twister headed their way. They moved swiftly to the basement bathroom with their children, friends who were visiting and the family’s two dogs. After several minutes of noise above them, the Whetstines emerged from the bathroom to find they were now trapped amongst debris. The local fire department responded immediately to help the family escape their now-flattened home. Clint received a call from his folks with news that his uncle’s farm, their main base of operations, had suffered the same fate. In a matter of minutes, two of the three Whetstine farmsteads had been completely destroyed. Clint made his way to Ed’s place to assess the damage and was devastated by the carnage around him. Dead livestock, damaged equipment and leveled buildings were all that remained of more than five generations of farming. The family and community immediately got to work, relocating the surviving livestock and cleaning up debris. Clint also received a call from his sister, who has been involved with Farm Rescue for more than a decade. He was first made aware of the organization at a Wyffels Hybrids regional sales meeting the year prior, but never imagined he would need their services. After his sister’s initial call to our office, Clint was put in contact with Farm Rescue Field Operations Manager, Ben Smith, who was on site shortly after to coordinate assistance. Farm Rescue was honored to provide tillage and planting support to the Whetstines, as they began the long process of rebuilding their family operation.
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