Hay ride in the sky feeds stranded cattle

BROOKSHIRE — Six soldiers piled into the back of a Chinook helicopter on Wednesday, ready for a rescue mission of a different kind — locating and feeding stranded cattle.

Thousands of head of cattle in the region have been without food for more than a week, stranded as a result of the high waters left behind by Harvey. Massive losses would devastate ranchers and add another blow to the regional economy.

The “Muscle 13” crew, part of the Michigan Army National Guard sent to help with the Hurricane Harvey recovery, buckled themselves in, bales of hay their primary cargo. The helicopter lifted off from the parking lot of Hamshire Fannett High School, just outside of Winnie, a town of 3,200 about 25 miles southwest of Beaumont. Not long after the crew was airborne, a little humor punctuated what would be a long day of tossing hay.

“Haaaaaaaaaaay,” Maj. Jeremy Barnard said to his co pilot.

“Pretty decent hayride,” First Lt. Todd Osborne replied.

“Yeah. I need some apple cider,” Barnard said.

Flying 200 feet above the ground, the pilots took turns scanning the horizon. Once they found cattle, it took a few seconds to determine if the head were trapped, and if so, if there was already hay in the area from the previous day’s hay drops.

Barnard, who briefly worked on a dairy farm in his youth, was the most proficient at spotting the animals, which often hid among trees and bushes. “You have to look for movement,” he said, pointing Barnard to a spot west of the chopper. “Otherwise, it’s just a spot of brown.”

During this run, the crew dropped off 150 bales, enough to feed 300 head of cattle. They would return to the high school, load up again and head back out.

During another run, Osborne guided the Chinook to hover about 10 feet over a hillock where at least 20 head were trapped. Sgt. Bobby Joe Spivey poked his head out the uncovered windows.

“Left, 10…9…8…7…6… 5…4…3…2…1…,” he counted down over the intercom. “OK, you’re good. Lower, 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… Good.”

Several of the crew began pushing bales out. Unable to see the cattle and horses, they relied upon Spivey and the pilots to tell them how many they needed to drop. “Twenty head, maybe 15 bales,” Barnard said. “There’s probably more in the trees we can’t see.”

Once the crew hit seven hours of flight time, they headed back for the high school. They are allowed only 8 hours of flight time before they must stop for their mandatory minimum 12 hours off. The crew dropped approximately 500 bales of hay.

Compared to the time they spent in Afghanistan, the crew thought this kind of humanitarian — and animal — aid was a treat. “It was really rewarding,” Barnard said. “It’s a good mission to do. Not just because we get a lot of flight time but it’s good to help people that aren’t shooting at you. It’s a good twist of events for us, compared to what we normally have been getting overseas.”