By DTN Senior Livestock Editor Jennifer Carrico and DTN Staff Reporter Russ Quinn

REDFIELD, Iowa (DTN) -- Wildfires have charred more than 820,000 acres, making the Nebraska Sandhills look like a desert and leaving more than 35,000 cows with no grazing land.

On March 12-13, there were 24 wildfire reports within 24 hours, according to Nebraska Emergency Management Agency. The four biggest wildfires -- Morrill, Cottonwood, Road 203 and Anderson Bridge -- started burning on March 12 and continue to burn for more than a week.

Chuck Ardissono has been farming and ranching near Oshkosh, Nebraska, for more than 40 years. He said he's experienced only one other time in all those years a similar disaster: a drought in 1989. But the Morrill Fire has topped that by burning up to 10,000 acres of their rangeland. "All the cows and hay are here in the valley, so we spared them, but we have very little, if any, summer grazing available now," he said.

A text came into his phone just after lunch, as he sat at the sale barn on March 12, saying there was a fire burning at Bridgeport, 44 miles west of his ranch. "By 8:30 that night, the wind had switched direction, and it was moving closer to Oshkosh," Ardissono said. "They told us to evacuate our home. What do you take with you if you are told that? We took pictures off the wall. Important documents and non-replaceable things." At one point the fire was estimated to be moving 60 miles per hour.

RANCHERS NEEDED TO MOVE QUICKLY

He said they typically would have put the first-calf heifers that were close to calving in a barn, but instead just left them in a dirt lot as they wanted the cattle to be able to move from danger if needed. Thankfully, their barns and homes were spared. At one point the fire was within a half mile of his hired man's house.

"The firemen worked very hard to protect our homes and structures. We are so thankful for all they've done for us," he added.

Firefighters from across the region, members of the Nebraska and Iowa National Guards, and numerous volunteers have worked around the clock to get the fire contained. As of late on March 19, one week after the fires started, the Morrill Fire, already the largest single fire in Nebraska history, has burned 643,074 acres and is 98% contained; the Cottonwood Fire has burned 128,036 acres and is 80% contained; the Road 203 Fire is 80% contained after burning 35,912 acres; and the Anderson Bridge Fire has burned 17,400 and is only 60% contained according to Watch Duty.

FIRES MOVED QUICKLY

Kelly Evans ranches about 6 miles south of Gothenburg. That area is home to grass-covered rolling hills. The area is so rough that there are not many ranch headquarters in the area, he said, but the Cottonwood Fire made its way through these ranches.

Friday morning, March 13, Evans started to get messages from neighbors that a fire had broken out north of his ranch. He had some horses grazing on his ranch and hauled them to safety first. His cattle spend most of the winter months in the nearby Platte River Valley, grazing on corn stalks and grass meadows. They were out of the way of the fires, he said.

Initially it appeared the fire would miss his ranch by one half mile or so, but the winds shifted about midmorning. Fires roared across his ranch in the early afternoon and burnt through it by 6 p.m.

"In that area, no one keeps livestock on the grass in the winter because you wouldn't get to them in a snowstorm or a fire," Evans said. "It could have been way worse if this happened a couple of months later when cows were out there."

While he managed to save a cabin on the ranch, acres of grass were burnt. In addition, fences, wooden corrals and even a loading chute were lost in the fast-moving fire. "I lost three ricks (bundles) of posts and a half rick of corner posts," he said. "I guess I'm going to need a lot more posts now."

Evans is part of the Central Platte Burn Group in his area. His cousin, Josh Evans, him and others had 20 utility vehicles, and five or six fire departments doing some back burning on Saturday. They went around and started fires in areas where structures and corrals were. They burnt about 3,000 to 3,500 acres as these fires protected unaffected areas when wildfires started again later that day.

The fire threat is pretty much over around his ranch as nearly all the grass is already burnt. Embers can float for about a half mile, but with 5 miles blackened around him, there really isn't much to burn, he said.

Evans said the soils are fairly good in his region and with some decent rains this spring, he believes he could begin to graze maybe by the middle of the summer. Cattle producers further north and west in Nebraska's famed Sandhills might not be as fortunate, he said.

"That soil up there is sand; if you graze too early, the cows' hooves would dislodge grass roots and then you have nothing," Evans said. "I wouldn't be surprised if they only graze meadows and that's it this year."

WINDS MOVED THE FIRES

Back up in Arthur County, near Arthur, Travis Wenzel and his family were alerted of the Morrill Fire moving their way on the evening of March 12. "They told us to evacuate our home. The fire was moving straight toward us," he said. "As the wind changed, the fire direction changed and our place was spared by 3 to 4 miles."

While the Wenzel's ranch where they run stocker cattle was safe, many others around them were not so lucky, losing most of their grazing land and some hay which would be needed to feed the cattle with the lack of grass.

"I started making calls over the weekend and every person I talked to thought there surely was someone worse off than them, even though I knew they were suffering and going to need some help," he said. "We helped organize a group to find where the hay needs to go."

Wenzel said thankfully the area had a good 2025 hay season and he hopes to find hay close by for those in need, but the hay donations from surrounding areas and states have already started to roll in.

"We have one neighbor who had to move his cows to another ranch to calve since the grass was gone where they had them. He commented that it would take several hours to feed since his hay was many miles from where his cows would be. So, we set up some trucks to help move his hay closer to the cows," he said.

The Sandhills of Nebraska are known for being good grazing land for cows, but with the grass burnt, it has left the ground fragile. Sand is blowing and drifting with the strong winds. Wenzel said the area is very forgiving, but they will need moisture soon. "We actually could use a good snow and freeze to keep the ground covered and let the moisture soak in slowly," he added. "Regardless, we need moisture."

Ardissono said his family learned years ago to not sell all their hay from the previous season as they have dealt with drought more than once and needed to supplement the cows. He thinks they will have enough hay to get by if they must dry lot the cows, but they are in search of grass to turn cows out for the summer, even if that means it's many miles away. He doesn't expect to be able to graze the burned acres even if they do get rain.

ORGANIZED RELIEF EFFORTS

Sara Cover's family has been dealing with the fires near Oshkosh as well and she has helped organize a way for those affected by the wildfires to get help through the Nebraska Sandhills Rancher Fire Relief. "There has been an unbelievable grassroots movement to help others," she said. The amount of help -- built through donations of food and drinks for firefighters; hay, feed and fencing supplies for ranchers; and financial contributions for all affected -- has been overwhelming, according to Cover.

The Nebraska Sandhills Rancher Fire Relief has a Facebook page to provide all the information for those who need it. The group is set up through the Kearney (Nebraska) Foundation, which allowed them to become organized quite quickly. Drop zones have been set up for donated supplies and through their organized efforts, hay is being delivered straight to the ranches who need it.

"There are so many things these ranches will need. It's just devastating to see the ground look like a desert," she said. "The Blue Creek area is what I would typically say looks like the gateway to heaven, it's so beautiful. Now, it looks like what I imagine hell would be like. It's so sad."

Area communities are rallying to help those in need. The need for a good communication network in the area is immediate, she said, as there is poor cell phone service. The hope is to use some of the donations for a radio system for the area fire departments to be able to communicate better. "Most ranchers have their own water sprayer rigs, but it's important for everyone to be able to communicate in times like this," Cover added.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has several programs available to help farmers and ranchers who are fire victims through technical and financial assistance. It is recommended for affected producers to contact their local USDA Service Center to learn more about the options.

Wenzel said miles and miles of fence are gone as well and while the cattle may not be able to graze the ground immediately, the fence will need to be rebuilt. "The volunteer fire departments in this area are going to need help too. They have worked day and night to fight this and they have equipment that will need repaired. The ranches who usually help support these departments financially, won't have the extra funds this year," he added.

Evans said it was encouraging to see all of the generous donations for both fire victims and firefighters flowing into the area already. There were 92 volunteer fire departments fighting the fires in his area and those people are the real heroes, he said.

"It's nice to know that other people care," he said.

See more:

-- "NE Wildfires Rage Across 740K Acres," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

-- Pasture to Pen, " Resilience Alone Won't Get Farmers Through All the Challenges," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Jennifer Carrico can be reached at jennifer.carrico@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @JennCattleGal

Russ Quinn can be reached at Russ.Quinn@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @RussQuinnDTN

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