Donations of time, building supplies, hay, trucks, and cash are needed. Cash will be used for permits and diesel fuel. 
News Release
Click here to see how to help personally or send an email to fcfi4him@aol.com.
February 13, 2006 Lexington, Illinois, USA
The Fellowship of Christian Farmers, International is announcing, today, its "Building Fences in the Bayou....'til the Cows Come Home" campaign to help Louisiana cattlemen and rice farmers hit by Hurricane Rita last September, re-build fences and repair livestock buildings. Farmers in Vermillion and Cameron Parishes were hit particularly hard by Hurricane Rita. Farmers from Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida have traveled to Abbeville, Louisiana where FCFI has established a mobile office and accommodations for 30 people each week to re-build fences destroyed by Hurricane Rita's storm surge. Bayou cattle were shipped north of I-10 prior to Rita's landfall. These cattle are still in rented pastures due to the high ppm of salt residue left on pastures. Three feet of storm surge "salt" water stood in bayou pastures for three weeks, 15 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico. With re-built fences, cattle can begin returning home if hay is available for dry lotting. Louisiana State University Livestock Specialists are monitoring salt levels in pastures. With additional flushing rains it is hoped that cattle can begin grazing in early May. Southern Louisiana is behind 20 inches of rain since the Hurricanes last September. This lack of rainfall is slowing the dilution of salt water in canals used by rice farmers to flood their fields prior to planting.
The Fellowship of Christian Farmers, International is coordinating the shipment of donated hay to the Gulf. Farmers with semi's & trailers with farm tags, can have the Fellowship pay for permits needed and reimbursement of diesel fuel for shipment to Abbeville, Louisiana. These same farmers are invited to stay in Abbeville to help Cajun cattlemen re-build fences before returning home. The Fellowship is coordinating haylifts with State Cattlemen's Associations. Contact the FCFI Home Office for details.
It is a tremendous "boost" of encouragement to Vermillion and Cameron Parish cattlemen to have farmers from across America show up and build two miles of fence in a day. Keystone Wire Co., Peoria, Illinois has donated two semi-loads of barbed wire for use in the Fellowship's fence building campaign. All interested farmers and farm families can register to participate in the "Building Fences in the Bayou....'til the Cows Come Home" on the www.fcfi.org website. The website's photo essay also chronicles FCFI's involvement in southern Louisiana. Cost for the project is $25.00 per person for as long as you can stay and build. RV sites are available. Accommodations and kitchen facilities are included. Please bring your favorite fencing pliers!
The Fellowship of Christian Farmers, International is a 501(3)(C) non-profit organization headquartered in Lexington, Illinois.
The Fellowship of Christian Farmers, International will be hosting a Louisiana Hurricane Relief Briefing each morning of the National Farm Machinery Show, February 15-18th at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
The morning briefings will be in South Wing B Seminar Room 107 each morning from 8:00-8:45 am.
Visit FCFI's website, www.fcfi.org, for details regarding, "Building Fences in the Bayou......'til the Cows Come Home". Join a Louisiana Hurricane Relief Team, today.
Fellowship of Christian Farmers, International
Dennis Schlagel, Executive Director
221 West Main; P.O. Box 15
Lexington, Illinois USA
phone 309-365-8710
fax 309-365-7023
e-mail fcfi4him@aol.com
website www.fcfi.org