Farms across the county today have new fence posts and equipment that they would not have otherwise had if not for a group of farmers from seven hours away.

The Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association earlier this month disbursed a tractor-trailer load of fencing, gates, barbed wire, posts and other farm equipment. All of the items were donated to the association by a group of farmers and businesses in Harrison County, Ky.

“We wanted to help a smaller, more rural area that maybe wasn’t getting the attention like some of the larger areas after the tornadoes,” said Mark Sadler, of Cynthiana, Ky.

Sadler donated the use of his tractor-trailer to bring the items to Franklin County.

The donation was made to the Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association, which was responsible for disbursing the items to county farmers.

The Franklin County Highway Department used a global positioning system to determine what farms had been in the direct path of the storm. The cattlemen’s association then tried reaching all of those affected to let them know that applications were available to apply for the fencing material.

“We know we weren’t able to give every single farmer all they needed, but everyone that came through and picked up their fencing was very appreciative to us and to the people of Harrison County, Ky.,” said cattlemen’s association member Orland Britnell.

“These fine folks from Kentucky worked hard to gather these materials to help our people and we are very grateful to them for that.”

Sadler said the Cynthiana-Harrison County Extension office initiated the effort and local businesses and residents quickly joined in.

“We just wanted to find some way to help a rural community that needed help.”

Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association president Frank Mitchell said the Franklin County Co-Op was more than generous allowing the items to be stored there until they could be distributed.

“Everyone with the group from Harrison County, Ky., to the people at our co-op and all the farmers involved, worked well together to make sure the people hurting from the tornado got materials they could use and to help get them going again.”