County farmers aid fellow farmers after flood

Published 7:56 pm Sunday, December 23, 2007

The Snohomish County Farm Bureau is donating $10,000 to help farmers in Lewis County who are recovering from the storm and floods earlier this month.

The Washington State Farm Bureau will channel the money. Every penny will be used for Lewis County farmers, said Ed Husmann, president of the Snohomish County Farm Bureau.

“They need a lot of support throughout the area. It takes years to recover from it,” said Dan Bartelheimer, a board member of the farm bureau.

The bureau decided to donate the money on Dec. 12, as people in Western Washington scrambled to deal with the aftermath of the floods, which shut down a section of I-5 for days after.

Floodwaters swallowed acres of farmland in Lewis County, killing horses, goats and dairy cows, said Ron Mauel, president of the Lewis County Farm Bureau. Those farmers appreciate all the donations from other farmers in the region including Snohomish County, Mauel said.

“If you’ve seen the devastation here, they can use everything they can get,” Mauel said.

Farmers in Snohomish County know how hard it is to recover from floods from their experience, Husmann said.

“Everybody said, ‘Let’s do something,’ ” Husmann said.

The recent floods reminded Bartelheimer of his 1975 experience. A major flood hit his family’s dairy farm in Snohomish then. He lost about 300 cows.

Neighbors, friends and strangers in the community came together and helped him save his farm, Bartelheimer, now 64, said.

“What really impressed me back in 1975 was the community. It was neighbors. It was people. It was farmers,” he said.

Lewis County farmers need donations, encouragement and support from others, Bartelheimer said.

“You cannot forget if the community supports you, if other people reach out to help you,” he said.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.