WASHTA, IOWA — Eleven tractor-trailers carrying 350 bales of hay left Washta, Iowa Wednesday morning, headed to ranchers in Nebraska whose feed supplies were destroyed in the largest wildfires in the state’s history.
Campaign organizer Adam Glienke said the fires wiped out not just grazing land but stored feed that ranchers had built up for the year. “A lot of their feed for the year ended up burning up in the fires out there, whether it be the grass that the cows graze or their piles of feed that they had stocked up,” Glienke said.
Finding enough trucks to make the seven-hour haul proved to be one of the biggest challenges. “That was the tough part. Finding enough trucks to go out there. Had a lot of hay that was donated. Everybody wanted to donate. Just a long haul to get out there, so finding trucks that can make that run and stuff like that,” Glienke said. He credited donors of gas, trucks, and hay, along with the broader Washta community, for making the delivery possible.
One of the three deliveries went to a father and his two sons who run 500 cows. The fire destroyed their feed source for two to three years. Without outside help, the family said they would have had to sell cattle just to survive. The hay donation may allow them to hold on.
Glienke said the recipients were overwhelmed with gratitude. “I think half of the words out of the guys’ mouth in our conversation was thank you. I know the favor would be returned here if something like that were to happen here,” he said.
This is not the first time the Washta community has organized a hay drive. In 2019, they delivered small square bales to northeast Nebraska after flooding. That experience inspired this effort. “That memory popped up, and so I thought, well, we’ll try it again and go a little farther, more or less this time,” Glienke said.
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