Shelby Co. farmers see progress on long road to tornado recovery

They've got a new grain bin and the corn crop is looking great this year, but the Langenfelds still don't have a machine shed and they don't have a house.

• I first met Trevor and Dianne Langenfeld a week after their family farm took a direct hit from the April storm system that unleashed multiple tornadoes across the region.
• Up the road, Scott McLaughlin's farm caught the tail end of the tornado system. He had to rebuild his grain bins and repair the family home.
• McLaughlin is rebuilding his hog confinements, but in the meantime, he's without a needed byproduct: "The manure from the hogs is our sole fertilizer source for our corn crop here on our home place and that's gone."
• Previous | 'It's a waiting game': Frustrations in Shelby County as tornado recovery slow for farmers
• Related | Shelby County supervisor: 74 farmsteads severely damaged by tornado over 30 miles

DRONE VIDEO OF SHELBY COUNTY DAMAGE

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

They've got a new grain bin and the corn crop is looking great this year, but the Langenfelds still don't have a machine shed and they don't have a house.

I'm your Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel.

I'm in Shelby County because I wanted to check in with some of the farmers that were hit hard by the Arbor Day tornado.

Trevor to Dianne: "Yeah, we haven't really heard anything back from FEMA yet at all."

Dianne: "No, they were out what? A month? Six weeks ago?"

Trevor: “Yeah, I would say so.”

I first met Trevor and Dianne Langenfeld a week after their family farm took a direct hit from the April storm system that unleashed multiple tornadoes across the region.

"We're down to two tractors left to fix and a grain cart," said Trevor.

They've always been upbeat and, these days, progress is evident. A good thing with harvest around the corner, a baby on the way, and so much still to do, which includes managing the farm's expenses,

"I don't think people realize tractors are $500,000," Dianne said.

Up the road, Scott McLaughlin's farm caught the tail end of the tornado system. He had to rebuild his grain bins and repair the family home.

"After April 26th it's just the chaos,” said McLaughlin, whose house was being repaired as we were speaking “You know, you start out with the physical clean up and you don't even, you don't know what you don't know."

McLaughlin is rebuilding his hog confinements, but in the meantime, he's without a needed byproduct.

"The manure from the hogs is our sole fertilizer source for our corn crop here on our home place and that's gone," he said.

Without hogs, McLaughlin and the Langenfelds have to buy commercial fertilizer. Trevor estimates at least a $50,000 hit.

Not to mention, both say, they continuously discover previously unknown storm damage.

"It's not like we shut down at the end of the year and do inventory for a week," McLaughlin said.

Despite the stress and the loss, McLaughlin feels grateful for the help he's getting from neighbors.

"Having great people around us and a strong faith. We're not meant to know why everything happens," he said.

The Langenfelds are preparing to build a new shop as soon as weather allows and, in the fall, they'll start on a new house in time for the new baby.