More than US$800M in agriculture loss by American Midwest flooding

Operation Prairie Hay Drop by the Nebraska National Guard. (Nebraska National Guard/Facebook)

A confluence of weather events came together in some Midwestern States last week which is causing emotional, physical and financial devastation. A weather ‘cyclone bomb’ with barometric lows most often seen in hurricanes, exploded over a large swath of the U. S. bringing rain, onto snow covered, frozen ground which could not absorb the moisture causing historic flooding.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Nebraska Governor, Pete Ricketts told reporters the damage in the state alone is approaching $1 billion and the number continues to climb . There is now an inland ocean moving it’s way downstream, eating up everything in it’s path.

“The flooding is just devastating,” Ricketts told reporters.

In addition to crop loss which is estimated at $440 million, an estimated $400 million worth of livestock have been destroyed.

Compounding the problem is a confluence of other events, not weather related. The ongoing trade war with China has resulted in poor movement of commodities, especially soybeans. Farmers and grain companies have been storing soybeans in hopes that the trade relationship would improve and prices might go up. For many farmers much of this stored grain has now been destroyed.

With spring arriving this week, many farmers are wondering just how they will seed a crop. Even if the water recedes and the land becomes fit enough to work, seed will have to be available and equipment ready to go into the field.

Although this has been a tragic past few weeks, there are some feel good stories starting to emerge. One being the Nebraska National Guard pulling of its mission of ‘Operation Prairie Hay Drop’. Watch for yourself, below.

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