Producers are donating hay to ranchers in Kansas
U.S. farmers are showing their support for one another after a devastating wildfire.
Kismet, Kan. farmer Randall Thorp is among the victims of the wildfire that started in Oklahoma in February.
He and his wife Donna lost their home, 960 acres of land, tools, and equipment. In addition, they have 150 head of cattle.
“To see everything gone so fast that you worked your whole life for … it’s just unbelievable,” Thorp told KSNW.
That’s where the ag community stepped in to support fellow producers.
A group of Wisconsin farmers donated and delivered more than 120 bales of hay to farmers in Kansas affected by the Ranger Road Fire, which in total burned more than around 300,000 acres of land.
They made the near 14-hour drive to Kansas because farmers look out for one another, even if they’re strangers.
“Farm in the rural community, people do stick together when there’s a disaster like this. Fortunately up here we don’t get something like that, we get tornadoes and things around here, everybody jumps in and helps. And we thought it’d be a good thing to do,” Greg Raymond told WEAU.
And they weren’t the only ones to help.
The Saltcity Cowboy Church and Inman FFA helped organize another drive with truckloads of hay destined for Kansas farmers who need it most.
In total, 22 trucks brought 333 bales of hay, and a dry van filled with feed and other resources.
“Farmers don’t ever get to do things by themselves, it is always a group effort,” volunteer and farmer Jessie Corn told KWCH.
Donations are still being collected for farmers and residents in Kansas and Oklahoma affected by the fires.
The Ashland Community Foundation and the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Foundation are accepting donations.
As is the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, and Disaster Relief Haulers.
DRH is looking for ag supplies like fencing and feed to be dropped off by March 16 as another convoy is scheduled to leave on March 19.