County cattlemen still working to achieve fencing goal for Kansas

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County cattlemen are still plugging away ? plugging away to help their ?brothers? in Kansas, who suffered devastating losses in March due to wildfires.

?We haven?t hit our goal yet, but we are still working at it,? said Craig Grothe, county cattlemen president.

Henry County cattlemen?s goal is to receive enough in contributions and proceeds from the raffle of two quarters of beef to purchase a semi-load of fencing and send it to Kansas. ?It may or may not be doable,? Grothe admitted.

He said that a load of fencing would cost over $20,000.

Fencing is expensive. Kansas cattlemen, state officials said, lost close to 100,000 miles of fence in addition to hundreds of cows in the fires which burned around 1,000 square miles of land. The estimated cost of fencing is $10,000 per mile.

?That (fencing) is what we are selling the raffle tickets and taking contributions for,? Grothe stated.

Not only do county cattlemen want to buy the fencing for Kansas farms, they may help erect it.

?We hope to put together a fencing crew and go to Kansas,? Grothe said. ?We have been talking about it but right now it is just in the talking stages.?

The drawing for the two quarters of beef will be May 30. The county cattlemen president said raffle ticket sales have been steady. ?It is going well. We could always use a boost on it but we?ve been doing okay so far.?

Anyone wishing to donate should contact Grothe, 319-931-3992; Carl Lund, 319-750-6708; Lloyd Bank, 319-931-5028; or Thom Miller, 319-931-7293.

In addition to the aforementioned cattlemen, raffle tickets also can be purchased from Eric Rawson, Kenneth Campbell, Keith Denning, Wayne Fuller, Chris Kelly, Jeff McGohan, Ryan Meyer, Joe Miller, Mike Moothart, Adam Smith, Marcus Smith and Jason Campbell.

?All contributions will be appreciated,? Grothe said.