Producers are collecting donations for farmers in Texas and Oklahoma
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Farmers are stepping up to help producers in need following devastating wildfires.
Producers in multiple states are collecting and facilitating deliveries to farmers in Texas and Oklahoma after the Smokehouse Creek fire affected more than 65,000 head of cattle and burned more than 1,500 square miles of land in the Texas panhandle.
In Ohio, for example, farmers are asking the community to step up with monetary or hay donations.
Producers from eastern Ohio have donated 51 large round bales of hay through Ohio Disaster Relief (ODR), which will support transportation.
“ODR is raising $5000 to cover the costs of transportation. The first load of 17 bales is currently in route by 2 DR volunteers,” ODR’s webpage says. “The second load will be 34 bales and shipped by commercial carrier. The funds raised will be used for these transportation costs and any other expenses for deployment.”
ODR’s goal is to have 750 bales of hay shipped to Texas from farmers in different states.
Farmers in the affected areas also need fencing, salt blocks and other supplies.
In Missouri, farmers are collecting any supplies they can to support their fellow producers.
“We need all stock feed, empty water totes or containers, mineral pails that are empty and mineral pails that have mineral in them, fencing supplies, such as the little clips to hold the barbed wire onto the fence T posts, any kind of barbed wire, fencing tools, and leather gloves,” Joshua Speer, owner operator of Rocking Speer Ranch in Richland, Mo., told KY3 on March 8.
Trucks left from Missouri for the affected areas on March 9, and Farms.com is trying to get details about community support and the pending distribution.
Farmers who wish to make monetary donations to support farmers in Texas or Oklahoma can do so through established channels.
The Oklahoma Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture is collecting donations through March 15. The Farm Bureau and Oklahoma Farm Bureau Insurance have committed to matching donations up to $10,000 each.