Iowa farmers offer a helping hand

Whoever says social media has never helped anyone was proven wrong by Cherokee County Farm Bureau member Adam Glienke and his impromptu hay drive to aid farmers hit by wildfires in western Nebraska.

Last week, after just a few days of organizing online, Glienke led a convoy of farmers and truckers hauling 11 trailers of hay and cornstalk bales from northwest Iowa 10 hours west to a pair of farmers near the town of Lewellen in the Nebraska panhandle.

"I didn't do much," Glienke said, modestly. "Just a Facebook post and a few phone calls."

Bringing back memories

Glienke, who has a small cow/calf herd and raises row crops on his farm near Washta, said the idea for the hay drive came from a different Facebook post he made seven years ago. At that time, severe flooding in northeastern Nebraska left farmers without pasture ground for their cattle. Glienke called up some friends and quickly gathered a few truckloads of small square bales.

That post reappeared on Glienke's Facebook feed as a "memory" recently and sparked the idea of helping western Nebraska farmers and ranchers impacted by extensive wildfires in March. The wildfires destroyed more than 600,000 acres of pasture ground and rangeland that would normally sustain large cattle herds.

"Out there, it's not like raising cattle in Iowa. Here, we have corn and hay and oats. If one fails, you have the others to fall back on," Glienke said.

Hatching a plan

It didn't take long for friends and family to respond to his Facebook post. "I put it out there and almost immediately had responses," Glienke said.

Iowa farmers harvested a surplus of hay in 2025 thanks to good growing conditions, and many were willing to donate to Glienke's effort. When all was said and done, he collected 350 large round bales of hay and cornstalks.

Next, he had to figure out how to move all those bales. Again, the community stepped up.

"We had three full-time truck drivers go with us; the rest were local farmers," Glienke said.

And those who didn't have trucks, trailers or hay to donate gave cash to help cover the gas and meals along the way.

On the road

After collecting and loading those 350 bales, Glienke and the convoy hit the road at about 6:30 a.m. April 8. It took about 10 hours to get to their destination, arriving at the farms just after 4 p.m.

The delivery was split between two farmers, both hit hard by the wildfires. Glienke met a father and his two sons near Lewellen who raise 500 head of cattle. He said they were overwhelmed by the donation.

"The one son came over, gave me a hug and started crying, 'You saved our ranch,'" Glienke said. "He said without the delivery, they would have had to start selling cows."

The ride back home

After dropping off the hay and fueling up for the ride home, it was time to get back on the road.

"The last hour of the drive home was tough," Glienke admitted.

The convoy pulled back onto his farm about 2:30 a.m. April 9, capping off a 20-hour day.

"The good Lord was looking after us; there were no breakdowns or accidents," Glienke said. "One guy lost a strap and had to pull over to replace it. That's the worst thing that happened."

Asked why he felt it was important to help farmers a state away, Glienke said it's just what you do for neighbors.

"I said to (the Nebraska farmer), 'You would have done the same thing for us,'" Glienke said.