The 4-H Foundation of Alberta has been hired to disburse hay donated by
Ontario farmers to Alberta producers and take the pressure off
volunteers who have spent the summer unloading hay.
Kevin Sorenson, member of Parliament for Alberta’s Crowfoot
constituency, said the 4-H Foundation was seen as a neutral party to
administer the distribution of Alberta’s portion of the Hay West hay.
Until recently, his Killam office staff and volunteers unloaded the hay
at Killam and Wainwright and organized the hay lottery.
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“We said all along we could not sustain a Hay West effort on
volunteers,” said Sorenson, whose staff often worked 18-hour days
registering farmers’ names, organizing the distribution and answering
phones.
Local farmers were asked to volunteer time and machinery to organize
and unload the hay when it arrived at Killam and Wainwright, the two
unloading points.
“We did it all on volunteers,” said Sorenson, now back in Ottawa.
He said when he agreed to use his office to co-ordinate the hay donated
by Ontario farmers, it looked like a simple task of 500 tonnes arriving
on a single train.
But the generosity of Ontario farmers and the need for hay by prairie
farmers soon overwhelmed volunteers. One small shipment turned into
three lotteries and thousands of tonnes of hay arriving weekly
throughout the summer and fall.
Up to $75,000 has been allocated to pay the 4-H Foundation to
administer the program and pay for expenses to unload the hay.
The money comes from the $3.8 million announced this summer by federal
agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief to help pay for the administration
of the hay collection in Ontario, fumigation and hay transportation of
377 rail cars.
Bruce Banks, executive director of the 4-H Foundation, said the group
willingly accepted the task.
“Why not? This whole drought affects our membership,” he said from the
4-H centre headquarters at Westerose, Alta., where hay is also
unloaded. “There was an opportunity to help out.”
In Alberta, there are 8,600 4-H members, 2,600 leaders and 454 clubs.
In the first hay lottery draw, 50 names were drawn, 100 on the second
lottery and 400 on the third. About 225 people on the third lottery
list have received hay. Banks said the hay will continue to come west
until the temperature in Ontario drops to Ð5C, when the hay can no
longer be effectively fumigated.
