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Nebraska ranchers brace for another big storm

Freezing rain was turning to snow Wednesday afternoon on the Ostrander ranch south of Gordon, Nebraska, with forecasters predicting a foot or more of snow by Friday morning.

Jecca Ostrander tells Brownfield they’re just starting to calve.

“Our son spring calves. He’s kind of at a lull with his heifers, which is a blessing. But his cows we always calve out in the pasture, so he and his dad are discussing what to do with one that was born this morning,” Ostrander says. “It’s kind of hard when they’re that far from the house. We’re kind of hopeful that it doesn’t just sock in—then you just can’t get out there.”

Ostrander says they had eight inches of snow in the big mid-March blizzard, but they did not suffer any cattle losses. The only positive aspect of spring snowstorms, she says, is that the aftereffects don’t last very long.

“If you can get through this and just kind of grit your teeth and bear it and push through, then usually things get better in a hurry,” Ostrander says. “It’s not like it comes and then you deal with it for days or weeks on end.”

Another positive to all the moisture, she says, is that there should be plenty of grass this spring and summer.

Gordon is in northwest Nebraska.