By SANDRA HANSEN
Having spent his life on a Nebraska Sandhills ranch, LeRoy Louden is familiar with Nature’s whims. However, nothing surpasses the past year when the region received less than half the normal amount of precipitation.
Louden has measured precipitation for the national weather service for more than 40 years and has never seen the equivalent of current conditions.
“I told my son to remember this, because I don’t think there is even anyone alive who has seen it this dry,” he said.
Until 2012, 11 or 12 inches had been considered terribly dry, with 14 inches being the normal.
Conditions throughout the Nebraska Panhandle and eastern Wyoming have livestock producers scratching their heads about what to do next. Grass never started last spring, and there is no winter range. Feed costs are out of sight and there is no indication that conditions will improve much any time soon.
While the state and the federal governments provided some relief last year, such as easing restrictions on mowing ditches and releasing CRP for grazing, there doesn’t appear to be much more available from the state.
“Other than some tax breaks on livestock, I don’t think there is much the state can do,” the former Nebraska state senator said Thursday morning.
“But there is still quite a bit of winter left, including March blizzards.”
Looking at other aspects of the agriculture economy, Louden said ag does a good job of taking care of itself. He cited efforts such as the corn checkoff and progress in water management issues as examples.
Even though Louden served District 49 for 10 years in the Legislature, his time was spent on the natural resources, banking, revenue, and building and maintenance committees, in addition to the tourism committee, which he believes generated some significant changes for not only the state of Nebraska, but agriculture as well.
Among problems facing the state and agriculture, Louden said water has been a significant issue in Nebraska for many years, and will probably continue to present major problems. He said Nebraskans need to learn how to make better use of their water and figure out how to store water in the state.
During his time in the Senate, Louden said one piece of notable legislation called for filling railroad cars with water near Hyannis and shipping it to other parts of the state or other states. “But that fell by the wayside,” the legislative veteran said.
Louden said he probably did more for rural Nebraska residents as a member of the senate’s toursim committee.
“I think tourism is the best way to jump start the rural economy,” Louden said during an exclusive telephone interview. “It does not require a lot of infrastructure.”
LB 726 made it possible to create county tourism committees, and Scotts Bluff was one of the first counties to do that, Louden pointed out.
A state tourism commission was also established. As a tax funded agency, it has an annual budget of about $6 million. “It’s a drop in the bucket compared to other states,” Louden said.
One of his proudest accomplishments is The Nebraska State Cemetery at Alliance. Louden said the $6 million veterans cemetery project brought a lot of economic prosperity to town. To accomplish it, the city donated some land near the airport and Box Butte County handled a lot of the paperwork, in addition to the cooperation of the state veteran’s department in Lincoln.
“It was hard getting it through all of the senators, but now, a year later, there are probably 100 burials there,” said Louden who is a member of the cemetery board.
Another boost for the region’s rural economy is the new nursing home facility at White Clay. The 60-bed unit will provide services for the American Indians who live across the state line on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The design allows for an additional 20 beds in the future. About 70 to 100 employees will be hired.
“A lot of people were dubious that it was going to happen, but it is happening,” he said.
Now that he is sitting on the sidelines after being term-limited out of the Unicameral, Louden looks at issues facing the 2013 legislature. He is very concerned about the tax issues. Property taxes are of special concern because of the increasing values on agriculture land. He also hopes the body continues to fund progress on the Heartland Expressway because transportation is so important for western Nebraska.
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