Mar 22, 2019 3 min read

A Canton Township family is embarking on a long road trip this weekend to bring aid to Nebraska farmers in need after devastating flooding that started last week.

David and Bri Beechy plan to drive a truckload of hay 900 miles to farmers, whose supply has been compromised by extensive flooding. And they plan to make this charity road trip with their 9-month-old, Magdalena, in the back seat.

“It’s a two-day journey,” David said. “Bri and I like road trips – the baby, not so much. But she’ll be OK.”

The Beechys are beef cattle farmers in Canton Township and in Chester Hill, Ohio. David said that as a farmer, he can relate to the struggles the flooded communities are going through, and he wanted to help.

“I can imagine they’ve gone through some pretty difficult times,” he said. “We always wish we had some way to do something to help. Since we had some extra hay, this is how we can help.”

According to the Associated Press, melting snow and rain have caused flooding in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and parts of South Dakota. The worst of it has been reported in Nebraska, where hundreds of residents have been displaced and many farms are underwater.

David said he’s seen reports of drowned animals and animals that are trapped by water. He said in some cases, farmers can only feed their animals by loading a boat with hay and taking it to them. He also said farmers are struggling to feed the animals because much of the hay was washed out.

Their mission began when Bri, who’s originally from Omaha, posted on Facebook that they had extra hay for anyone who might need some in Nebraska. She still had friends there, and figured someone could probably use the extra hay. The post got more traction than they ever imagined.

“Her post took off, with over 8,000 shares,” David said. “Hundreds of people are looking for hay for their animals. The 14 to 25 bales that we have is nothing to what they need.”

So far, they have two loads they plan to take out there, one 14-bale load of their own and one 14-bale load from a farmer in Ohio who offered to donate to the cause. David said he’s also reached out to people in Indiana and Missouri to see if anyone can spare some hay.

“Hopefully we can find more people who have extra hay or can donate money to buy hay to take out there,” he said. “We’ve had very few people wanting to donate because hay is pretty scarce right now. Last season was too rainy.”

David, who also runs a trucking company, plans to use a flatbed trailer and pickup truck to cart the first load. He then wants to pick up a contract job to haul something back from Nebraska to this area and use the money to pay for his gas and travel costs. Then he’ll transport the second load of hay from the Ohio donor.

As part of his trucking company, David’s made long trips like this in the past, but “normally not for free,” he said.

“Hay is going for anywhere between $30 and $75 a bale,” he said. “So when you do 14 on a load, that’s pretty expensive.”

The couple set up a GoFundMe account for donations at www.gofundme.com/hay-for-nebraska-flood-relief. Anyone interested in donating hay can reach David by email, at david.rrhauling@gmail.com.