Nebraska farmers, ranchers to repay Texans' generosity

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By the McCook Daily Gazette

MCCOOK — Some southwest Nebraska farmers and ranchers want to pay back a good deed by Texas farmers years ago when the Nebraskans struggled with drought.

The southwest Nebraska district of Independent Cattlemen of Nebraska has scheduled an auction for Monday. The goal: raise money to help Texas farmers and ranchers plagued by drought and wildfires.

The Nebraskans remember the generosity of farmers and ranchers from across the country who sent bales of hay to feed Nebraska livestock.

Now that some Texans need help, some Nebraskans and ag producers from other states are stepping up to help.

“Guys in Texas were already out of feed because of the ongoing drought,” said John O’Dea, a McCook-area cattleman. “Then the fires hit and compounded all of their problems.”

From Dec. 26 to April 19, more than 11,000 burned through Texas, charring 4.9 million acres and destroying 436 homes.

Cattle scattered because fires destroyed about 25,000 miles of fence.

“One of their biggest problems is getting their cattle back and sorted,” O’Dea said. “Then they can figure out what they’ve got left.”

And although southwest Nebraska farmers and ranchers are still going through their own drought, O’Dea said, the fires have made the situation in Texas worse.

“The devastation of fire ... losing everything, or almost everything, overnight, is unbelievable,” O’Dea said.

The Monday auction is a rollover auction: a calf is sold, donated back, sold again, donated back and so on.

Five loads of hay have already been sent to Texas, and some of the auction proceeds will underwrite the shipping expenses.

“When the drought hit southwest Nebraska so hard, we had hay relief brought in here,” O’Dea said. “We need to give back for what we received.”