Missouri farm aid headed to Kansas

The convoy plans to leave at 4 p.m. Friday from the Mid-Missouri town of Belle, heading for Kansas.

"They've had over a million acres burned, from Texas to Nebraska," state Rep. Tom Hurst, R-Meta, one of the organizers, explained. "Our group is going out to western Kansas."

Northwest Missouri farmer and Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst - no relation to Tom - wrote in his weekly column a Kansas friend described the destruction caused by "a 50-foot-high wall of flames traveling at interstate speeds and leaving devastation and heartbreak in its wake."

"Of all the emotions we humans endure, surely none is worse than helplessness in the face of tragedy," he added.

Tom Hurst said Wednesday: "This is one of those things where you're just helping your neighbor. This isn't about profit or loss." He anticipates at least 16 trucks and trailers will make the trip, carrying wires, posts, gate panels, dog food, a lot of fencing supplies and feed for the livestock.

Jeff Maples, of Belle, donated 400 big, round bales of hay to go out in this weekend's convoy.

The Meta lawmaker noted the governors of Missouri and Kansas have waived some of the normal regulations for transporting agricultural materials.

While oversize permits are required of loads exceeding 8 feet, 6 inches in width, the Missouri Department of Transportation said through April 8 those permits for overwide hay loads will be issued free of charge, for loads up to 12 feet wide and allow for travel during curfew hours and at night.

"These continuous movement oversize permits are only available to those hauling hay in direct response to disaster relief efforts," according to a MoDOT news release. Drivers must abide by all other permit regulations.

Tom Hurst admitted Missourians often have a rivalry with Kansas - but this isn't the time for even friendly competition.

"Right now, those people are just trying to hang on," the state representative explained. "A lot of them have lost their cattle and other animals - horses, hogs, whatever they had."

Hurst said his group will continue to take donations, even after the trucks leave Friday.

In his column, Blake Hurst said the Farm Bureau and its foundation also are taking donations and seeking ways to help.

"This is a human tragedy, as lives were lost and businesses ruined," he wrote. "It's an environmental challenge, as millions of acres lie unprotected from spring weather. It's a generational loss, as the cattle that perished were the results of decades of careful breeding, and those bloodlines won't be replaced in our lifetimes.

"And it's an economic tragedy of Katrina-like proportions, as farmers and ranchers struggle to replace a lifetime of work, much of it uncovered by insurance."

Tom Hurst said his Mid-Missouri relief effort includes help from individuals and from companies like MFA and Diamond Foods.

"It's just good people doing good things for other good people," he said.