South Dakota hay relief headed south to victims of Colorado, Kansas wildfires

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Truckloads of hay from South Dakota farmers are headed south to states where ranchers have been devastated by wildfires.

More than a dozen trucks loaded with hay bales left South Dakota Wednesday and Thursday destined for ranches in Colorado and Kansas. Organizer Jed Olbertson says a load has already arrived in the southwest Kansas community of Ashland.

Olbertson tells the Capital Journal six or more truckloads organized by a rancher from the Garretson, South Dakota area are also headed for Colorado.

Ranchers in Texas alone are facing at least $21 million in agricultural damages from wildfires that blackened more than 750 square miles.

Governors in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to halt grazing restrictions on federal land to give surviving cattle more places to feed.

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Information from: Pierre Capital Journal, http://www.capjournal.com