Operation Prairie Hay Drop
When ranchers and farmers in Nebraska reported that they had some cows safe from the floods that were in danger of becoming malnourished or poisoned by the only feed available, the National Guard planned a way to deliver fresh, safe hay via helicopters and truck convoys, getting the feed past flooded roads and terrain and into farms where it could do some good.
On March 20, soldiers with the Nebraska Army National Guard used a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to drop massive hay bales to cattle stranded and surrounded by floodwaters. “We were able to fit two large round bales (weighing 2,000-2,500 lbs. each) into the back of the helicopter,” explained Nebraska National Guard Chief Warrant Officer Jeff Caniglia during an interview with KRVN radio. When the helicopter got over the farm (near Richland, Nebraska in rural Colfax County) it dropped down to get the rancher on board to help locate the cattle. “The feedlot was completely washed out. It was devastating to see by air.”
Once they were able to identify a cluster of 60 cattle on one island and 40 more on another, they flew the helicopter over the cattle and hovered. Then they lowered the ramp and rolled the bales out the back of the helicopter. “We were able to observe the cattle coming to the bales after they were dropped, so they were definitely pretty hungry,” stated Caniglia. In total, the crew dropped five loads of hay (10 bales) that afternoon.
According to Caniglia, the last time the Nebraska National Guard participated in an aerial hay drop like this was during a blizzard in 1949. The Nebraska National Guard continued delivering hay by air and land over the next several days to farmers and ranchers near Columbus, Elkhorn and Winslow, Nebraska.
May/June | The Retailer Magazine | 21
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