Devastated by the August 28 flood, Schoharie Valley farmers are getting a helping hand from farmers in the North Country.
The first shipment of hay bales arrived from Franklin County early Friday afternoon at the Van Aller farm on Caluverwie Road in the Town of Middleburgh.
Brenda Weaver, office manager for the Schoharie County Soil and Water Conservation District said 33 people from 19 farms were involved in Franklin County.
About 600 square bales of hay were delivered to Van Aller's Friday and two or three loads of round bales will be delivered to other area farms, she said.
In all, six farms will be aided by the hay.
Todd Van Aller said the hay should feed his cattle for about a month to a month and a half. A lot of their corn feed was destroyed when the flood ravaged the farm.
"There's a lot of people out there who want to help out," Mr. Van Aller said.
Volunteers showed up at the farm twice to clean out some of the barns.
"We've gotten a long way," he said.
He said he just got back the cows back from a neighbor's farm where they have been housed since Hurricane Irene.
There are about 220 to 230 head on the farm. He said 10 had to be put down after the flood.
They normally grow their own hay but not this year.
"Hopefully winter won't set in too quickly," he said Friday, the day between two snow days.
Ms. Weaver said she was contacted by officials at the Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation and they said farmers in that area wanted to help out. Kim Richey trucked the hay down with his wife and helped unload the bales.
The hay will greatly aid the farmers, Ms. Weaver said.
"It's a month they don't have to find feed," she said, "after they've lost so much."
Farmers "help each other. That's how farmers are."
If the farmers did not have the hay to supplement their feed "they'd be in dire straits," she said.
Ms. Weaver noted how the Van Allers helped out her father after his car got stranded on the road in front of the farm when the rains from Hurricane Lee flooded the road.