Relief efforts for farmers, ranchers detailed
Wildfires that burned parts of Dewey and Woodward counties in northwest Oklahoma earlier this year weren’t as big as the 2017 fires that burned parts of Oklahoma’s Panhandle and Kansas.
But this year’s fires impacted far more farming and ranching operations, and the latest information about some relief efforts illustrates how big that impact was.
Ranchers, farmers, cityfolks who wanted to help and agricultural credit and insurance programs put together programs to help impacted Oklahomans who work the land to grow crops or raise cattle.
So far, it appears that about $900,000 has been raised and distributed.
The fires burned about 350,000 acres, consuming pastures, hay, fences, barns and dozens of homes, and early estimates put cattle losses at 1,600 and 2,100 miles of fencing needing replaced.
Weston Givens, president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, said the recovery effort has just begun.
Pam Livingston, a fourthgeneration Dewey County rancher, agreed.
“We have been blessed with some rain,” she said. “But right now, everyone is still in the building mode.
“A lot of the pastureland that burned, it has come back nicely. But you can’t put cattle back out until its fenced.”
Helping hands
The Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Foundation is among numerous organizations that sought to raise dollars to help out affected livestock producers.
On Friday, the foundation announced it had sent $459,971 in donated funds to 69 beef producers who sought aid.
More than 1,000 donors pitched in, ranging from “little old ladies who wrote a sympathy card and included five dollars” to significant donors who wrote $10,000 checks, Givens said.
“And it came not only from the agriculture sector ... but also from people in the city who saw a need and wanted to help,” he said.
The Oklahoma Farmer’s Union Foundation issued $30,000 in grants to various fire departments that responded to the 2018 fires.
Steve Lumry, executive director of the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association, said rural departments appreciate of the support.
“Gasoline is a big part of their budget,” Lumry said. “Those kinds of donations make a tremendous difference to those departments in being able to continue to respond to other emergency situations throughout the rest of the year.”
Farm Credit of Western Oklahoma, a bondsbacked loan cooperative frequently used by farmers and ranchers to finance their operations, joined with numerous other agriculture-credit organizations in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Kansas to raise funds for affected fire departments and farm and ranch owners, too.
Together, their members and other individuals put together a $200,000plus fund, which was matched by CoBank, which provides wholesale loan and financial services to Farm Credit of Western Oklahoma and other associations serving about 70,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states.
Lance England, manager of Farm Credit of Western Oklahoma’s Woodward branch, said Monday the cooperative so far had dispersed the nearly $420,000 raised so far by issuing:
• $5,000 grants to 15 area volunteer fire departments, totaling $75,000.
• $1,000 grants to 165 farmers and ranchers, totaling $165,000.
• $4,000 grants to about 40 farmers and ranchers that lost actual homes during the event, totaling $160,000.
England said the cooperative also had used about $10,000 to provide food to victims and to firefighters and to help a rural water district replace some of its equipment.
England said Farm Credit of Western Oklahoma also has made about 40, zero-interest, shortterm loans for $25,000 each to operators.
“That’s just to help people get their fences back up and buy some feed for
their cattle, too,” he said.
England, an agricultural credit industry veteran in northwest Oklahoma for 26 years, said the 2018 fires were unlike “anything we have ever seen before.”
“This year, it affected a lot of small farms that were under 320 acres.”
Both England and John Grunewald, CEO of Farm Credit of Western Oklahoma, said tragedies like the wildfires create both horrific and positive lasting memories.
Grunewald said a positive experience he’ll always remember involves a rancher from Mutual who brought him a personal check for $10,000 to help wildfire victims in a recent year.
“I just want this to help the farmers,” Grunewald said the rancher told him as he handed across the check. “That’s just another example of how they come together and help each other.”