By Shala Gean
Communications Specialist
Since Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas last month, hundreds of farmers and ranchers have come together to help provide shelter, feed and water to displaced livestock. The outpouring of support in agricultural community has been overwhelming.
Support within the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) community has also been strong.
Among the many volunteers is Houston County Farm Bureau President Than Richburg. He made phone calls and coordinated an effort to provide hay for ranchers in the Coastal areas impacted by the flooding.
“I just heard on the radio that there were lots of cows stranded,” Richburg said. “They needed some hay and were taking donations.”
He spent hours making phone calls to locate ranchers in the flooded regions who needed help.
“I knew the Farm Bureau members up here would be anxious to help their neighbors and friends down there,” Richburg said. “So I started making some contacts to try to find out who would haul it.”
He said his initial idea generated an entire rural community effort. Many ranchers in the Houston County area, along with members of the local Baptist church, came together to help.
They coordinated efforts with a Baptist church in Brenham that was able to pick up the hay and transport it to another church in Beaumont. From there, the donated hay was distributed among ranchers and TFB members who had been impacted.
Helping others runs in the Richburg family. Than’s son, Brandon, was also involved in rescuing about 140 cattle in the rising flood waters near Dayton. He and a group of local cowboys drove the cattle for miles to dry land during the devastating storm.
Richburg said he will continue to coordinate efforts for hay donations, because there are still many ranchers needing hay.