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Roberts Dairy Farm, May 1968

Below the Roberts Dairy farm near Elkhorm was a fallout shelter for cattle.Courtesy U.S. Army, National Archives & Records Administration

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Roberts Dairy Farm, May 1968

Feed in the silo in the background was protected from fallout as long as the silo remained undamaged.Courtesy U.S. Army, National Archives & Records Administration

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Fire extinguisher, first aid kit, stored water, and other supplies in personnel fallout shelter at the Roberts Dairy Company Farm

Courtesy U.S. Army, National Archives & Records Administration

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Sheltering Cattle

Human beings weren’t the only species selected to survive a nuclear attack in Nebraska. In 1963, Roberts Dairy Company, outside of Omaha, conducted a two-week survival test for 35 cows, one bull, and two student cowhands. They built a concrete shelter under the dairy at Elkhorn that was big enough to house over 200 Golden Guernsey cows and a couple of bulls. Milk is especially susceptible to contamination by radioactive elements, and so Roberts and the Office of Civil Defense ... Read more

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Rural Shelters

Did farm homes in Nebraska need fallout shelters, even if they were located far away from the supposed targets of nuclear bombs?

What You Should Know about Biological Warfare
During the Cold War, civil defense officials thought that the U.S.S.R. might attack our farms with biological agents, 1955.
Produced by the Federal Civil Defense Administration

"Shelters make good sense," declared Mrs. Lorraine Still, Custer County home agent, "even though farm families may live hundreds of miles from military targets or large population centers." In ... Read more