March held true to the “in like a lion, out like a lamb” saying here at Next Gen. We started the month with more than two feet of snow on the ground and piles of it as high as the tractor and yesterday I worked on landscaping around the house and manicured the picture pen. As I sit here on April 1stthough, we have snow flurries so…a lot can change in a day let alone a month, right!?
No question; it has been a long and challenging winter for all. The cold and the snow piled up relentlessly and the weatherman was called everything but his birth name on a daily basis. But through all the challenges we faced personally, there were many around us right here in our home state and our agriculture friends across the country that faced devastation and heartache we really cannot imagine. Catastrophic winter storms followed by even worse flooding has ripped through the heart of our Ag industry and frankly, a main source of food for not only our nation but the world. Although the exact numbers are unclear at this time, it’s reported that the number of cattle lost could be over a million with the economic losses in the billions of dollars. Cattle that literally floated away. Piles of dead baby calves. Entire fields and farms under silt and water that may never grow a crop again. Homes and buildings destroyed. Then imagine coupling all of this with an Ag industry that was already depressed both economically and emotionally and the world looks pretty bleak. 
But then hope arrives from other farmers and ranchers who are experiencing challenges themselves but they realize that despite what they are going through, they still have something to give. A load of hay. Fence posts. Wire. Feed. All things that we are in need of and have value to us but farmers and ranchers find it in their full hearts and empty wallets to give. Whenever I hear about or see the pictures of these acts, it reminds me of Jesus feeding the thousands from a few loaves of bread and fish. How will we be able to share with others if we barely have enough ourselves?? Yet somehow a little extra is found in hopes it provides relief to those who need it more than you.
We live in an area of the world that doesn’t have hurricanes, where we can get our cattle to high ground in times of flood, and where we can provide shelter on desperately cold and snowy winter days. We aren’t without our own challenges of course but hey, that’s farming. I’ll take what we have time and again and try to be more grateful because you know what?? I STILL have it.
For more information on how to help if you are so blessed visit:
iowaagriculture.gov and search “Resources for Flooding”
flood.unl.edu
dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2019/03/20/agriculture-state-organization-try
