The first of many truckloads of donated prairie hay has made it to Ontario thanks to HayEast 2012, a program that aims to help drought-affected Ontario and Quebec farmers feed livestock through the winter.
Thousands of large bales of hay have been generously donated by our prairie neighbours – but to ensure the program is a true success, we need private and public sector support to help with moving these donations cross-country to farmers in need.
HayEast 2012 is a reciprocation of HayWest, a 2002 program that saw Ontario farmers ship hay to livestock herds in the prairies when that region was affected by similar drought conditions.
That program saw not only the generosity of farmers on one end of the country donating hay to the other; it also brought significant financial support from the private and public sector.
During HayWest 2002, the federal government covered the cost of rail cars to help fund cross country hay transportation costs.
The Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP) rail companies also made significant transportation donations.
Nearly $110,000 was donated by the private sector in Ontario, Quebec, PEI, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. And, 1,600 volunteers as well as hundreds of private businesses and corporations stepped in to show their support.
In the end, the HayWest 2002 program saw almost 60,000 bales of hay moved, sustaining 30,000 head of cattle.
It was a good News story of farmers helping farmers, and it meant a great deal to Canada’s agricultural community to see neighbourly support on such a large scale.
This past summer’s drought has left many Ontario and Quebec farmers in circumstances similar to the dire conditions experienced in Alberta in 2002.
Record-low rainfall caused pastures to dry up, and there was no forage crop worth harvesting on many farms.Existing Ontario hay inventories see competing bids at high prices.
Affected farmers may not be able to feed their livestock through the winter without help. Those that are able to find hay will not be competitive.
To date, 30,000 large hay bales have been requested by more than 150 farmers in need in Ontario.
Western Quebec numbers are being collected. Many of the western-based organizers of HayEast 2012 are anxious to help eastern Canadian farmers because they hope to repay the kindness they experienced a decade ago. And, while Western Canadian farmers don’t have the bumper hay crop that Eastern Canada had in 2002, they’ve donated as much as they can spare for Eastern Canada.
HayEast 2012 organizers have begun approaching the private sector for donations to help fund transportation costs. Anyone wishing to help can make a donation at any Scotiabank across Canada.
But as the winter quickly approaches and many Eastern Canadian farmers wait for hay that will provide the peace of mind to sustain their livestock through the season, Canadian farmers in all provinces will continue to look to the federal government and the important role government must play in facilitating delivery of this important program.
The hay, the people, and the processes have been put in place by hundreds of volunteers so far.
Now our government partners must step in to move donated hay to where it needs to go, to make HayEast 2012 a true success.
