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Don Hutchens is a farmer, just like his father and his father’s father. He wears an “I stand with Ukraine” button on his chest and a red University of Nebraska ring on his finger. Twenty-eight years as executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board sent him around the world representing the state’s farmers and agricultural interests.
And for two weeks, he was one of many Lincoln volunteers who spent time in a hotel in Warsaw, Poland, with Operation Safe Harbor Ukraine — a Nebraska-led effort to help feed, clothe and shelter Ukrainian families fleeing the ongoing war at home.
Now, he’s back home in Lincoln, hoping to spread his message to farmers in the United States:
“We have a moral and humanitarian responsibility to support the refugees and Ukraine,” Hutchens said. “We’re not being bombed. We’re not having our fields decimated by tanks. We’re not having to get off our equipment to go fight a war.”

Don Hutchens shows off the purple and green bracelet on his right wrist. A young girl, a Ukrainian refugee, made it and put it on him while he volunteered near the Ukrainian border this spring. He hasn’t taken it off since.
With dark, fertile soil, Ukraine is one of the world’s top exporters of sunflower oil, corn and wheat. The breadbasket of Europe, the country produces one-tenth of the world’s wheat.
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Russia’s invasion interrupted, and maybe catastrophically disrupted, Ukrainian farmers’ harvest and planting. Blocked ports and destroyed railways cut off typical export routes, trapping crops in a country that normally exported up to 6.6 million tons of grain and oil seed each month before the war.
The month after Russia attacked, that dropped to 330,000 tons, Ukrainian farming officials said.
The result could mean a “hurricane of hunger” for the European, Asian and African countries that rely on Ukrainian wheat, United Nations officials have said.
Countries such as Egypt, Lebanon and Pakistan get most of their wheat from Ukraine. The country’s harvest ships to the Middle East to be turned into bread, and Chinese farms to be fed to livestock.

Don Hutchens checks the moisture levels in his corn field on the family farm near Geneva. He was recently in Warsaw, volunteering for a Nebraska-founded nonprofit helping Ukrainian refugees — including the families of Ukrainian farmers.
Now, that supply of grain is trapped in the country — the ports and railways are blocked. Early on in the war, Ukraine placed restrictions on agricultural exports to avoid a hunger crisis in the country.
The squeeze on food supplies and soaring prices are making an already existing global hunger crisis even worse, according to the United Nations.
Because of the sudden absence of Ukrainian grain on the world market, prices of crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans have skyrocketed in a way Hutchens has rarely seen in his decades of farming.
“Ukraine’s loss has been some of our gain in agriculture,” he said. “In agriculture, you don’t set the price of what you sell. You take what the market dictates.”
The numbers get texted to Hutchens’ phone daily — wheat prices at times doubling what they were since the days before the war began. Corn prices have risen about 15% over that time, he said.

An aerial view of the Hutchens family farm near Geneva.
For Nebraska farmers, this year has brought weather challenges and higher prices on expenses such as fertilizer and fuel. But, overall, farmers have been able to take advantage of the significant price increases of crops, he said.
“I’m feeling guilty about the profit farmers are making,” Hutchens said. “I really believe agriculture and all of us need to share in donations.”
Growing up on the family farm outside Geneva, Hutchens watched farmers help their neighbors, regardless of wealth or size. If there’s ever a tornado or snowstorm, his fellow Nebraska farmers are quick to head to the neighboring county to help, even if it goes against the competitive nature of business.

Don Hutchens stands in his shop and points to a photo of his father, who took over the family farm and the responsibility of his family at the age of 17. Now, Hutchens believes it’s American farmers’ responsibility to help the farmers of Ukraine. “We have a moral and humanitarian responsibility,” he said. “We’re not being bombed. We’re not having our fields decimated by tanks.”
“In agriculture, you’re competing with your neighbor for the same marketplace … for a piece of ground that might come up for sale,” Hutchens said. “But at the same time, we’re always supportive of each other.”
His hope is that Nebraska farmers will see their Ukrainian counterparts as neighbors, even though they’re halfway across the world. Even though, in normal years, they are competitors.
To friends who ask, he suggests donating through their church, or other refugee aid organizations such as Operation Safe Harbor. Or he suggests donating their time, like he did in Warsaw.
Hutchens isn’t the only one working on getting aid to Ukrainian farmers and their families. Ukrainian native Roman Grynyshyn started the project World to Rebuild Rural Ukraine to raise money to help small farmers replace what they’ve lost.
For the past month, Grynyshyn and his family have traveled the United States — including Nebraska — spreading their message to help Ukrainian farmers.
Before the war, Grynyshyn led agricultural tours where Ukrainian farmers would travel to the United States to learn from American farmers. When the war broke out, those trips halted.
His farming contacts throughout Ukraine passed along stories from the countryside: Russian soldiers are setting fire to warehouses full of seed and fertilizer, they said. They’re stealing tools and farm animals. Fields are dotted with mines. The burned-out hulls of tractors and mangled equipment line roadsides.
“They are targeting agriculture as well as the military,” Grynyshyn said during a May presentation at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “This is the second battlefield.”
Using donations, Grynyshyn’s organization is buying replacement supplies, equipment and even animals for small Ukrainian farmers. Despite the ongoing war, Ukrainian farmers are continuing to farm any way they can, with an emphasis on feeding the families and soldiers who have remained in the country.
“It’s not a gift, it’s just a helping hand,” Grynyshyn said. It’s also “a project that will unfortunately last years beyond the war’s end.”
Hutchens expected some pushback from his fellow farmers — while crop prices went up, so did expenses.
One asked him: Would Ukrainian farmers help us in a drought?
“Probably not, but this isn’t a drought. This is a war. This is a genocide,” Hutchens said. “Wouldn’t you want somebody to help your wife, your daughter, your grandchildren if they had to flee and find shelter and food?”
He has mostly heard from people asking how they can help.

Don Hutchens works on building a fence in the farm house’s backyard near Geneva.
Before boarding his flight in Warsaw, Hutchens snapped a selfie with a newfound friend.
The pair were brought together after recognizing their matching Ukraine T-shirts across the Chicago O’Hare airport terminal — the blue-and-yellow flag representing the wide blue sky over the fields of wheat that cover the country.
Both were headed on the long international flight to Poland — the man, to transport armored chest plates into his homeland, Hutchens to start his two weeks helping Ukrainian families in the hotel.
Ten hours later at the Warsaw baggage claim carousel, the pair once again crossed paths. Hutchens helped the Ukrainian native unload 100 20-pound armored chest plates that came down the conveyor belt.
He helped, because that’s what farmers do.
After housing hundreds of displaced Ukrainians, Lincoln business looks to expand efforts
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Photos: The latest scenes from Ukraine as Russian attacks continue

Azov battalion Kraken unit commander Konstantin Nemichev poses for photo inside the regional administration building, heavily damaged after a Russian attack last month, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Firefighters battle a fire at a warehouse after a Russian bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A civil defence volunteer stands guard at a checkpoint controlling the traffic near Kyiv, Ukraine on Thursday, April 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A man carrying his belongings leaves his house as he walks past buildings destroyed by artillery in Chernihiv on Thursday, April 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Women next to their belongings wait for transportation next to buildings destroyed by artillery in Chernihiv on Thursday, April 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A man rides his bicycle next to a destroyed Russian tank in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Ukrainian soldiers examine Russian multiple missiles abandoned by Russian troops, in the village of Berezivka, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Rostilav, 4, left, smiles to the camera as he arrives with his family and friend Yaroslav, from Mariupol, at a refugee center fleeing from the Russian attacks, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. Mariupol, which is part of the industrial region in eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, has been a key Russian objective since the Feb. 24 invasion began. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Internally displaced people from Mariupol and nearby towns arrive at a refugee center fleeing from the Russian attacks, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. Mariupol, which is part of the industrial region in eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, has been a key Russian objective since the Feb. 24 invasion began. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

People from Mariupol and nearby towns step out a bus, with a sign on the window that reads in Russian: “Children”, and arrive at a refugee center fleeing from the war, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. Mariupol, which is part of the industrial region in eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, has been a key Russian objective since the Feb. 24 invasion began. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

An internally displaced elderly woman from Mariupol looks out of a bus after window arriving at a refugee center fleeing from the Russian attacks, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. Mariupol, which is part of the industrial region in eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, has been a key Russian objective since the Feb. 24 invasion began. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Valentina Greenchuck, 73, holds a plastic bag containing an orthodox icon after arriving from Mariupol at a refugee center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022, after fleeing from the Russian attacks. Mariupol, which is part of the industrial region in eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, has been a key Russian objective since the Feb. 24 invasion began. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Valentina Greenchuck, 73, gestures after arriving from Mariupol at a refugee center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022, after fleeing from the Russian attacks. Mariupol, which is part of the industrial region in eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, has been a key Russian objective since the Feb. 24 invasion began. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Ulya, age 6, arrives with her family from Mariupol at a refugee center fleeing from the Russian attacks, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. Mariupol, which is part of the industrial region in eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, has been a key Russian objective since the Feb. 24 invasion began. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Helena stands next to her belongings after arriving from Mariupol at a refugee center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022, after fleeing from the Russian attacks. Mariupol, which is part of the industrial region in eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, has been a key Russian objective since the Feb. 24 invasion began. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Evgeniy, right, waves as he arrives with his wife and four children from Mariupol at a refugee center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022, after fleeing from the Russian attacks. Mariupol, which is part of the industrial region in eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, has been a key Russian objective since the Feb. 24 invasion began. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A woman looks out of a building damaged by Russian shelling last month, in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on Thursday, April 21, 2022. Citizens of Irpin are still without electricity, water and gas after since the Russian invasion began. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A Ukrainian soldier stands as sappers search for mines left by the Russian troops in the fields at the village of Berezivka, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

People gather near candles in memory of Ukrainians killed during the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Lviv, western Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed victory Thursday in the battle for Mariupol, even as he ordered his troops not to take the risk of storming the giant steel plant where the last Ukrainian defenders in the city were holed up in a maze of underground passages. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 21, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Worshippers wait in line on their knees during Easter Orthodox Christian celebrations at the Saints Peter and Garrison church in Lviv, western Ukraine, Friday, April 22, 2022. New satellite images show apparent mass graves near Mariupol, where local officials accused Russia of burying up to 9,000 Ukrainian civilians to conceal the slaughter taking place in the ruined port city that’s almost entirely under Russian control. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Worshippers wait in line to kiss what represents the coffin of Jesus Christ during Easter Orthodox Christian celebrations at the Saints Peter and Garrison church in Lviv, western Ukraine, Friday, April 22, 2022. New satellite images show apparent mass graves near Mariupol, where local officials accused Russia of burying up to 9,000 Ukrainian civilians to conceal the slaughter taking place in the ruined port city that’s almost entirely under Russian control. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.
The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.
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