01/03/07 Storm Packs Punch

Storm packs a punch. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Farmers are generally pleased with any form of moisture - but a major winter storm that rolled out of the Rockies over the weekend pounded producers in the Plains. Snow totals in southwestern and central Nebraska climbed to one foot - while parts of western Kansas received up to 18 inches of snow. That means Kansas officials - like Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Adrian Polansky - are spending time at the State Emergency Operations Center and talking with farm group leaders in an effort to assess the damage. POLANSKY: As we look around the area there's areas where icing is certainly a most significant problem, in other areas deep snow and drifts and power issues with generators at some of our feedlots that I think they've had some success in rectifying. Certainly cattle out roaming about because of fence issues. Just a whole gamut of feed and water and other issues relating particularly to our livestock industry. Polansky says the weather issues are particularly impacting the beef industry - and he says it will take time to fully remedy the situation. But he says the state is focused on taking the necessary steps to manage the challenges facing agriculture. POLANSKY: The first priority is certainly for those that have specific needs whether that's feed for their cattle herd or whatever it may be in terms of a need we need to have that communicated to local county emergency managers. According to Polansky - that requires cooperation between the local and state levels. But the communication can't just be related to needs. He says the Department needs to know if anyone is willing and able to match a need - and if equipment is available to assist in getting the resources to those in need. Beyond that - Polansky says cooperation is extending beyond his state's borders - working with leaders in Colorado and Nebraska to address the needs caused by this storm as well. Although - he says the magnitude of the storm has even had an impact on those cooperative efforts. POLANSKY: They're systems and ability are strapped with their own challenges so that's one of the things that make this largest storm such an issue whether we're talking about the thousands of utility poles that are down or other issues the size of the storm is really causing some challenges beyond the more localized system that we sometime have to recover from. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.