A $75,000 shot in the arm will help ‘Hay West’ send more bales to struggling farmers, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) said.
“CFA hopes these gestures of financial support will spur further contributions, as the drought in Western Canada has been extremely lengthy and resulted in a dire need for hay,” the organization said in an Oct. 12 news release.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) contributed $50,000 toward the Hay West campaign’s freight costs, and Farm Credit Canada (FCC) gave $25,000 with a potential additional $25,000, provided Hay West can get matching funds from another source.
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The campaign, which the CFA is spearheading, is collecting hay donated or committed by farmers in the East Coast, Ontario and Quebec to send to drought-stricken livestock producers in the Prairie provinces.
The campaign is buying hay from eastern producers at 10 cents a pound, and selling it at the same price to western farmers.
All proceeds from donations go directly to paying shipping costs and logistical supports.
CFA said it has tens of thousands of bales of hay to be sent to the Prairie provinces, but the demand for hay is still extremely high and more is needed.
“OFA is happy to be able to make a contribution to help farmers when they are struggling, no matter where they are. We hope these donations can spur other organizations to do so as well,” said Peggy Brekveld, OFA president, in the news release.
In September, Mennonite Disaster Service Canada also launched a hay relief campaign to help farmers in Saskatchewan. At the time its goal was to send 50 truckloads of hay west.
Meanwhile, on the West Coast, Vancouver Island farmer Bryce Rashleigh organized a ‘Hay East’ campaign, which has shipped 25 b-trainloads of bales from his farm to farms and ranches in the B.C. Interior and Alberta, according to an Oct. 10 update on Facebook.
In September, Rashleigh told the Co-operator he lost most of his haylage customer base when COVID-19 shut down Victoria’s tourist industry. Most of his bales fed carriage horses in the coastal city.
Rashleigh vowed to do what he could to help farmers with the bales. As of Oct. 10, he’d raised about $60,000 to cover freight costs, and he’s sold the bales at cost of production.
“It’s gathering momentum of people helping people,” Rashleigh told the Co-operator.
For more content related to drought management visit The Dry Times, where you can find a collection of stories from our family of publications as well as links to external resources to support your decisions through these difficult times.
