Our East Nebraskan farm is a family-run tillage farm, located near the Platte River in the midwestern US. We grow 2,000 acres of corn and soya beans, and we also run a 40-cow suckler herd consisting of Shorthorn, Angus and Red Angus breeds, which graze outdoors year round.

The last few weeks have seen all-time record flooding across Iowa, Missouri and here in Nebraska.

January saw record snowfall in many areas. Then an early March blizzard was followed by a rapid temperature rise and heavy rainfall, leaving what forecasters are describing as a once-in-a-500-year flood.

The Spencer Dam to the north of the state collapsed, along with a number of bridges on the Niobrara River.

Our region has been hit very badly, and the Nebraska government has estimated that the floods have caused $400m in damages to crops and $400m in lost livestock.

Flood damage on Justin Mensik's farm in Nebraska.

On Thursday 13 March we went to bed as normal, knowing that there was a good chance that the river would be high. Waking up on Friday morning, we could hardly fathom how much water we had.

About 100ac of grazing ground had been flooded, so the first question I had is would we have any livestock left? I sent my drone up, and thankfully the cattle had found a small island of higher ground – they were just chilling out surrounded by all this water, it was surreal.

For about three days we hauled hay to the stranded animals by airboat. Once there was no more rainfall, they would be safe enough.

When the water finally dropped we walked them to safety, which was a big relief after a labour-intensive few days. That being said, we have been one of the luckier farms.

Our tillage ground was mostly safe from floods. Planting will be slightly behind schedule this year, but if ground conditions dry up, we should get sowing in the next few weeks.

Drone footage of the nearby town of North Bend, Nebraska

We lost a few fans and some bits of equipment that have been washed away. Roadways and about 100ac of fencing have been destroyed completely also. While there has been huge devastation and damage done in the mid-west, the support and comradery since the floods has been uplifting.

The #NebraskaStrong campaign has really taken off on Twitter, with many farmers from right across the country donating fodder. Last week we even had a crew of volunteers from Ohio on the farm to help us fix up fencing.

The hope is that once we get the infrastructure up and running and the land dries out, all will be back to normal in the next few months.