It brought rain, then heavy snow, high winds and low temperatures from Colorado to Wyoming, western South Dakota and Nebraska, and led to the historic flooding in central and eastern Nebraska, Iowa and surrounding areas.
Superstorm Ulmer came just after a warm spell had started thawing the significant snow and ice pack that had few periodic melts beforehand. The result of storm precipitation, ice jams and melting brought flooding of catastrophic proportions.
Traveling through the area two weeks after, the detours, road closures, flurry of dump trucks, trailers hauling large equipment and convoys loaded with hay and supplies were just a few signs of the daunting task of recovery just beginning and the generosity already pouring in.
Nebraska’s infrastructure is severely affected with 200 bridges needing inspection or repair, dams and levees damaged, and railroads halted or hampered.
Untallied stocks of corn and soybeans and hay were damaged. Even six weeks after, much debris remained, and the 3 to 4 feet of sand will leave much of this crop and grassland unusable this year.
The Nebraska governor’s office estimates nearly $1 billion in agricultural losses alone – not including the nearly $100 million in damage to buildings, homes and equipment and nearly $500 million in damage to roads, bridges, dams, levees and other infrastructure.
Livestock losses from the blizzard and the flooding are estimated at $400 million and crop losses $440 million. Nebraska Farm Bureau pegs livestock losses at $500 million and livestock feed losses at $40 million.
Iowa state officials estimated $1.6 billion in losses, mostly in crops and grain, some livestock. The Iowa Farm Bureau says these losses will grow beyond $2 billion as the effects ripple through the state’s ag economy.
Existing programs such as the USDA’s Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) have caps that many farmers’ losses will far exceed. Programs like Crop Insurance won’t cover grain lost in storage. Few have sufficient private insurance for these losses. In April, Congress failed to pass a special disaster aid package for 2018 and 2019 damage across the country.
While hogs and poultry are included in the livestock losses, cattlemen took the brunt. USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue backed away from a figure he gave Fox News three weeks after the flood – that one million cattle were lost in the region. No official numbers have been given, but it’s not hard to imagine a number close to one million head because a majority of these losses are recently born calves that may not have been tagged or recorded, making documentation difficult.
Veterinarians also report additional losses ahead as surviving livestock are under stress. Beef feedlots and dairies also report losses in average daily gain (ADG) and milk in the wake of deep snow, floods and mud.
Transportation costs have climbed a collective $1 million a day, by some estimates, for feedlots and dairies frequently shipping and receiving. Many are reporting up to 100-mile detours that may last a while.
Without the railroad to bring corn to the ethanol plants and transport the ethanol and distillers (DDGs) out, at least six plants were shut down. This widened the basis and affected usage and pricing in addition to physical losses.
Out-of-state feedlots and dairies have also been affected by railroad damage as soymeal and DDGs go from Nebraska by rail to other areas such as California.
“You quickly realize this thing has long fingers,” said Bill Thiele, who operates a 1,900-cow dairy near Clearwater. He tells of the losses of ranchers and family members – people he knows – who tried coaxing cows and calves out of fields but had to get themselves to higher ground when the emergency warnings went out as the Spencer Dam broke.
“Cattle are mixed everywhere with bridges out,” said Thiele. “It will take some time to tabulate where cattle are, what was lost, and what’s misplaced. It’s hard to fathom these images of guys loading dead calves.”
To fathom it, understand that these miles of creeks and rivers are normally wide and shallow streams that can be crossed easily. But as the floodwaters came up rapidly, and dams and levees of larger rivers were breached by icebergs the size of cars, the push turned 8-inch streams into 15-foot raging rivers, and the cow herds became stranded or worse.
Traveling through Columbus two days after Highway 81 reopened, debris piles were a hodgepodge of equipment, hay, cattle carcasses, anything carried miles by raging waters.
A stop in town found the Nebraska Farm Bureau, Nebraska Cattlemen and Nebraska Pork Producers grilling a meal for volunteers, farmers and townsfolk.
“The biggest tragedy was in the calving herds wintered close to water where there are big trees that keep them out of the wind,” said Jay Ferris of Nebraska Farm Bureau. He lives near Seward.
“The feedlots lost efficiencies, but our cow-calf operations lost a lot of their babies. That’s the saddest part,” his wife, Tammy, added.
Cattleman and pork producer Bill Luckey took in the scene at the Columbus hay-drop point. He farms 6 miles east of town and described his operation as “lucky.”
“Even though we don’t know the numbers, everyone in this area has some cattle and hog losses,” he said. “Roads are covered with water, mud and debris. We’ve seen an awful lot of livestock stress that will continue in this mud. Every 10 to 20 years, we see flooding, but most of us have never seen anything like this.”
Generosity from across the country has been amazing, Luckey observed. “It is incredible the amount of hay and supplies, as well as money and work crews coming in to help clean up and rebuild.”
As we watched the Nebraska Air National Guard load four round bales to feed stranded cattle owned by Drew Wolf of Richland, we met Jay and Kim Schilling from the southwest corner of the state. They had just brought in 23 round bales.
“We are one of the few counties not declared an emergency in our state, and we wanted to help because we know they would do the same for us,” said Kim Schilling as two more semis rolled in with hay and corn fodder. “We know how much those cattle eat.”
Luckey also talked about the damage to the railroads. We learned that the side dump trucks all up and down the roads were hauling rock to place in holes under the tracks.
“It’s our lifeline,” he said as a train whistle in the distance grew louder. “That’s the first we’ve heard in over 10 days. That is surely a nice thing to hear.”
“This is a tough deal for our communities,” said Thiele, recounting stories of families that have lost everything. “This is a total farm economy here, and we are already in a long-term down cycle. There hasn’t been a lot to be optimistic about. What we need is for the trade agreements and other underlying problems to be finalized. For long-term recovery, our markets have to improve so farm families have a chance.”
He spoke of the PETA billboards that have gone up showing flood scenes and criticizing ranchers. “For those who are against our cattlemen, take a look at our faces. You’ll see very tired faces. These farmers and ranchers are caring and doing absolutely everything they know to do, even risking their own lives on a tractor to try to get cows out of a field before a flood takes them away. All we want as farmers and ranchers is to have a real chance.”
Meanwhile, volunteers and donations bridge some gap. Hay and supplies have continued coming in from neighboring states and as far away as Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, Kansas, Florida. The list grows.
While there are many ways to help, here are a few:
• Nebraska Cattlemen Disaster Relief, 4611 Cattle Drive, Lincoln, NE 68521. Donation forms are available online.
• Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation’s Disaster Relief, PO Box 80299, Lincoln, NE 68501-0299 or visit online. Also, the Farm Bureau’s Ag Disaster Exchange matches hay/supply donations with need. • Nebraska Dept. of Ag Hay and Forage Hotline at (402) 471-4876 and online (www.nda.nebraska.gov/promotion/hay/index)
• In Iowa, a website connects those who need with those who have available hay or grazing land. USDA Hay Net & Tip Net.
• Read about some of the generosity here (Farm and Rancher aid from West Michigan) and here
(A Farm Wife Nebraska bound installation 3). 
PHOTO 1: As the waters began to recede, the first issue was getting feed out to the surviving stranded cattle, locating feed resources and digging surviving cattle out of debilitating mud. Photo courtesy of Lautner Show Steers, Jefferson, Iowa.
PHOTO 2: Social media posts, photos and accounts from those affected depict towns, farm buildings, grain elevators and other structures under water. This one is Gavalon Grain, west of Rockport, Iowa. Photo courtesy of Duane Klute.
PHOTO 3: Fourteen semi-loads of hay and five trucks with gooseneck trailers loaded with supplies set out April 26 from the Englewood, Kansas, fire company headed for Grand Island, Nebraska. These contributions came from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas where the historic and devastating March 2017 fires had claimed lives, cattle, hay and pasture. Facebook photo courtesy of Dale Mertens, CPI.
PHOTO 4: Brian Palmer of Columbus, Nebraska, loads the last of four round bales brought in by Jay and Kim Schilling (pictured). They are ranchers from the unaffected southwest corner of the state. Bales are airdropped by Nebraska Air National Guard to cattle stranded by standing water weeks after the storm and flooding. Photos by Sherry Bunting.
PHOTO 5: As flood losses mounted, farmers from across the country sent hay, fencing, other supplies and financial donations to the flood-affected rural communities of Nebraska and Iowa. Photos by Sherry Bunting.
Sherry Bunting is a freelance writer in eastern Pennsylvania.
