My wife, Carla, wrote out a prayer request in neat handwriting and dropped it in the offering plate a couple of Sunday mornings after wildfires devastated parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. When the deacon picked up her slip to read it before the congregation, he stumbled over the word "ranchers," getting out what sounded like "rancheros." And when he finally did read the request for prayer for help for ranchers and farmers in the Great Plains, it drew virtually no reaction from the normally caring congregation.

Why did he stumble over the words? Why didn’t anyone react with sympathy and sighs of sorrow as they normally do when someone asks for prayer for people who are hurting? The answer was pretty obvious. The deacon didn’t know about the disaster. The congregation didn’t know. Unless you’re directly connected with agriculture and follow things like that on Facebook, you had no way to know. The national mainstream press didn’t cover it.

Some of the people affected there who blogged or were interviewed on Facebook called it their "Hurricane Katrina." Every household in America was bombarded for weeks with story after story when that disaster hit New Orleans and other areas along the Gulf of Mexico several years ago. Federal authorities rushed in to help. Politicians did what politicians do — they tried to make it a partisan event, and tried to use it for political gain.

True, perhaps Katrina affected a larger area. True, more people died. Yet those who are living the nightmare in the Great Plains and those who have been there and reported back say the wildfires left just as much destruction in their wake as Hurricane Katrina did.

Many people have concluded there is a double standard in national media coverage in politics — one party appears to be treated differently than the other. Is there a double standard in covering natural disasters, too? Is it only important if the natural disaster hits urban or suburban areas?

Word from the Plains
The editor of our sister publication Kansas Farmer covered the disaster. P.J. Griekspoor is all too familiar with some of the areas where wildfires devastated almost everything in sight.

Here is what she told us on March 20.

“It is the worst ag disaster ever to hit Kansas. The biggest fire was centered in Clark and Comanche counties and went into Oklahoma. But there were fires the same week in 19 counties in Kansas. We’ve had no rain since the fires, and red flag warnings are still up.

“Clark County ranchers lost 80% to 90% of their herds. One is a third-generation Angus seedstock producer. He lost 500 cows, 300 of which were due to calve in days. I saw it, and I sobbed all the way home.

“The loss of genetics alone is horrible. The Livestock Indemnity [Program] cap of $125,000 isn’t going to go very far. We have hundreds of miles of fence to rebuild. Volunteer work crews are doing some of that work.

EQIP [Environmental Quality Incentives Program] and livestock conservation programs will help some, but come with a ton of paperwork.”

The people of the Plains are proud, humble people. They’re not asking for handouts. They’re just hoping people across the country would at least be aware of their plight."

If you want to know about ways to help, Griekspoor refers you to the Kansas Livestock Association website, kla.org.