Roughly 40 Nebraskans brought 30 trailers full of over 200 cows to Beatrice 77 Livestock on Tuesday in preparation for an auction on Thursday. The auction is a total herd dispersal of the Niss family estate, as the family’s patriarch, fourth-generation farmer Bryce Niss, 35, died in a grain truck rollover crash in November.
In addition Niss’ 202 black angus bred cows and 10 Nemaha Valley breeding bulls being auctioned, a rollover auction is being held for a three-year-old bred cow donated by Heldt Family Farm, and a barn built by Glenn Katz, with the proceeds going to help fund the Niss children’s education.
Dennis Henrichs, a manager at Beatrice 77 Livestock, goes to herd the first few trailers of cows as they arrive on Tuesday. Henrichs said he has unfortunately seen people organize auctions like this before when a fellow farmer has died.
BEATRICE -- On a chilly Tuesday morning, roughly 40 Nebraskans hauled and unloaded 30 trailers full of cows to help a Pawnee City family.
Fourth-generation farmer Bryce Niss, 35, died in a rollover crash in November. After months of grieving and preparation, his family decided to disperse the herd.
Jeff Broady, Niss’ father-in-law, said the sale on Thursday is going to be hard for the family, because Bryce’s cows were his pride and joy.
“That’s really what he worked hard at, but he worked hard at everything,” Broady said. “Wonderful father. Wonderful son-in-law.”
Broady said Bryce and wife Dani always did business at Beatrice 77 Livestock, so once the family decided to liquidate the cows and calves, they chose to do it there.
Broady said people traveled from across the region, from Lewiston, Burchard, Johnson, Du Bois, Tecumseh and Auburn, to help load the cows and take them to the sale barn this week.
He said Bryce was always one of the first people to help someone out when asked, and that he was not surprised by the support his family has received because that’s just what rural America does for each other.
“The accident happened on a Tuesday morning, November 17, and by 3 p.m. that day there were 29 farmers harvesting his crops,” Broady said. “They finished it up the next day at 11 o’clock in the morning.
"The community has just been wonderful with Dani, bringing meals and helping with the kids, just anything that she needs. I can’t thank the community and the region enough for everything that they’ve done.”
Dennis Henrichs, one of the livestock barn's auctioneers, said he has unfortunately been a part of auctions like this before when a farmer has died.
“Tragedy certainly brings out the best, and it does prove that Bryce had hundreds of friends and people that would come to his need,” Henrichs said.
Niss’ 202 black angus bred cows and 10 bulls will be auctioned on Thursday. But there will be special auctions as well, with proceeds from the sale of a 3-year-old bred cow donated by Heldt Family Farm, and a model barn built by Glenn Katz, going to help fund the Niss children’s education.
Bryce Niss was survived by his wife, Dani, and children, Weston, 10, Reid, 6, and LilaBelle, 3.
Niss was a frequent participant in sales at Beatrice 77 Livestock, always sitting under the clock on the south wall of the sale barn. Henrichs said the area under the clock is being reserved for the Niss family during Thursday’s auction.
Henrichs said individuals who can't make it to the auction but want to donate can send a check to Beatrice 77 Livestock in the Niss family’s name.
Broady said he was at the farm on Monday, and while loading his truck he thought he saw Bryce walking across the way.
“It’s been tough. It’s been hard. Emotions I don’t know how to put it into words,” Broady said. “With the love of family and the community, we’re getting through it.”
TIMES WE WERE PROUD TO BE NEBRASKANS
Pilger cleanup
Nebraskans are proud to be good neighbors, with people coming from around the state to help pick up after a tornado destroyed much of the town of Pilger in 2014 (above) and after natural disasters in Hallam and elsewhere.
Clayton Anderson
Ashland native Clayton Anderson spent five months at the International Space Station in 2007, returning there in 2010 on a resupply mission aboard space shuttle Discovery.
Jack Hoffman
The moment 7-year-old cancer patient Jack Hoffman ran 69 yards down the field for a touchdown during the red-white spring game in April 2013 will be forever remembered by Nebraskans.
Legislature unique
Nebraska became the only state in the U.S. with a one-house Legislature -- the unicameral -- after passage of an amendment in 1934. Nebraska's Legislature is also officially nonpartisan.
Ted Kooser
Ted Kooser of Garland did the state proud when he became U.S. poet laureate in 2004 and won a Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 2005.
National champions
Nebraskans are proud to have had five national football championships: 1970, 1971, 1994, 1995 and 1997.
Hannah Huston
“You are doing Nebraska so proud,” Pharrell Williams told Hannah Huston on "The Voice" in 2016. The Lincoln teacher and Grand Island native made it to the finals on the show.
Volleyball National Championship
An NCAA record 17,561 fans converged on Omaha for the volleyball championship match on Dec. 19, 2015. The Huskers won the championship, as well as the title in 1995, 2000 and 2006.
150 years of statehood
Nebraskans celebrated 150 years as a state on March 1, 2017, with much hoopla in Lincoln and throughout the state. In this picture, Taylor Keen performs a monologue as Chief Standing Bear before an audience during the celebration in the Capitol rotunda.
