(NDAgConnection.com) – National Farmers Union and Farmers Union Enterprises, owned by the state Farmers Union organizations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, are donating $125,000 to help with the humanitarian and agricultural crisis in Ukraine.

The contribution was directed through the World Food Program USA, the non-profit arm of the United Nations-affiliated World Food Program (WFP). WFP has been on the frontlines of the world’s worst hunger crises, fighting hunger and famine since 1962. The organization is currently on the ground in Ukraine providing critical food assistance to those impacted by the war.

“The war in Ukraine is devastating hundreds of thousands of families, driving them from their homes and into hunger,” said NFU President Rob Larew. “While the scope of the humanitarian crisis is immense, American family farmers and ranchers want to help in the best way we know how: to provide food and humanitarian aid to those around the world who need it.”

“As the full effects of the invasion of Ukraine are felt throughout the global food system, reserves and food programs will be stretched thin. From the beginning, NFU has been committed to the cooperative principles, one of which is ‘concern for community.’ For our organization, that concern extends around the world and to our fellow farmers in a major agricultural country, Ukraine.”

This action is possible because of the significant financial support of Farmers Union affiliated organizations — specifically Farmers Union Enterprises, Inc. (FUE). FUE is a for-profit business organization operating in the upper Great Plains and it seeks to assist farmers in creating businesses that enhance the economic position of family farmers.

NFU has partnered with WFP to set up a fundraising campaign for other organizations and individuals to contribute to the relief efforts in Ukraine, which can be found here.

“As the producers of our global food supply, farmers play a vital role in food security and we must do all we can to support and sustain them during their time of need. Unfortunately, Ukrainian farmers now find themselves on the frontlines of war instead of their fields. We are deeply grateful to the National Farmers Union for their support as we work to provide food assistance to 6 million Ukrainians in need, including farmers,” said Barron Segar, World Food Program USA president and CEO.

According to recent updates from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization:

Farmers may not be able to harvest or plant crops or sustain livestock in 19 of 24 of Ukraine’s oblasts (an oblast is an administrative region within Ukraine).

Destocking of small livestock has been reported in half of Ukraine’s oblasts and of large ruminants in a quarter of oblasts.

In oblasts where displaced persons make up more than 15 percent of the current population, 20 percent of host households cannot meet their basic food needs.

In difficult times, NFU has stood with farmers in need around the world. NFU was a founding member of the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (CARE) in the aftermath of World War II. In the 1970s, NFU was part of the World Hunger Action Council.

“Farmers Union members stand against the violence, hunger, and threats to democracy that the people of Ukraine face, and this contribution — and those of our friends and neighbors — will help confront this crisis,” Larew concluded.