|
| Don't have any farms on the river bottom, but so me friends and neighbors do. Here south of Omaha, the fields right along the river are still a mess. Some just had water go off them this winter. Ground which is higher and closer to the bluffs (more flood water, not river flow damage) will likely get planted as soon as possible. Fields near levee breaks may never be farmed again. Sand could be deposited 6-10 feet deep. New cuts may have water flowing through them yet. Where the dikes break, the churning water has left holes where the dike used to be of 30 to 60 feet deep.
Of the many levee breaches, only a few have had repairs. Not enough money or time to get to them all yet. It is amazing to watch the equipment and manpower that is being put to repairs. The number of scrapers, excavators, dozers, and sidedump semi trailers is astonishing. All equipment being run 24/7. In my area old rock quarries are being reopened for large rip-rap. One temp quarry only had a short term operating permit, county was not going to allow reopening due to potential damages to county road this spring. After a 20 minute recess a single phone call by Railroad representative secured several hundred thousand for road repairs.
The hill ground with terraces, we are having to "move a lot of dirt back up the hill". The combination of snow melt/rain/thawing ground lead to a lot of erosion issues and ditches. It didn't really matter if ground was tilled, no-till, or even had covers growing on it.
Right now things looking better, but due too many dikes that are still broken, any high river levels will flood easily again. Most farmers are planning to plant cheap corn seed as soon as possible so they may collect insurance. | |
|
SE nebraska guys
