Ottawa slow to commit | Costs have more than doubled since the HayWest program, when Ottawa covered the cost of sending 300 rail cars
Organizers of the HayEast 2012 program say they need more of everything.
They’re asking for money, volunteers, and commitments from truckers, railways and the federal government, but first and foremost they need more hay.
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture estimates livestock producers in that province require 70,000 bales. The plan is to find 20,000 from Quebec and the remainder from Western Canada.
Producers in Saskatchewan and Alberta have donated 2,000 bales, 136 of which have been shipped east by truck. More donations are coming in but not nearly enough.
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HayEast is payback for 2002, when growers in Eastern Canada shipped 35,000 tonnes of hay, the equivalent of 70,000 large round bales, to farmers in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Manitoba’s hay producers had a poor year, which is why they’re not participating in the HayEast program.
Production was a mixed bag in Sask-atchewan and Alberta this year. Some growers had great crops, while others didn’t get much of a second crop.
But there are growers in areas like Oyen, Alta., and south of Moose Jaw, Sask., who have a five-year supply of hay because of consecutive years of plentiful harvests.
“They’ve got a lot of hay sitting on their farms. That’s some of the target,” said Nial Kuyek, general manager for the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, one of the farm groups involved in the program.
He said the will is there in the farm community but circumstances are different this time around, which makes the payback more challenging. Ten years ago there wasn’t much of a market for excess hay in Eastern Canada. That’s not the case today because of drought in the United States.
“It’s not as easy this time around to get people to donate because they’ve got a market,” said Kuyek.
“The hay is moving south.”
Another big change is that energy costs have risen substantially over the past decade so truckers are not prepared to donate their services. Instead, they’re looking for cost recovery. The average back haul from Saskatchewan to Ontario is $3,000 to $4,000 for a truck capable of carrying 34 bales.
In 2002, the bales were moved west through a combination of 700 rail cars and 1,500 trucks.
HayEast has held weekly meetings with representatives from the two national railways and the federal government.
Kuyek said both national railways are eager to help but they want a commitment from Ottawa.
“They’re saying, ‘we’re not going to make a decision as to what we’re going to contribute until the federal government puts its skin on the table,’ ” he said.
In 2002, the railways covered the cost for 300 cars, the federal government paid for the same amount and private industry chipped in for 100 cars.
The federal government wants an estimate on how much the program will cost before making a decision.
Kuyek said the railways have provided an estimate of $7,000 per boxcar, which can each carry 40 round bales.
That is more than double the cost of $3,000 per car in 2002. The increase is due to rising energy costs and a different approach to loading and unloading cars.
The railways allowed farmers to do the loading and unloading in 2002, but that is no longer feasible because of safety regulations. The railways will hire transponders to load the cars using specially constructed ramps.
Kuyek hopes the government will announce what it intends to contribute in the next week or two because the goal is to get the bales marshalled and shipped east by Christmas.
APAS president Norm Hall said the situation is desperate for many producers in Ontario, who have been culling their herds since summer.
“The objective of this is to save the breeding herd in Ontario,” he said.
HayEast is looking for cash donations from industry to help pay for hefty transportation and administration costs.
Agrium is the first major corporate donor. It has contributed $20,000 to reduce the cost of transporting hay from farms to rail depots. Half will go to Saskatchewan and the other half to Alberta.
Kuyek said the railways have discussed establishing two depots — one in Edmonton and the other in Saskatoon.
HayEast is encouraging them to consider adding two southern depots, such as Medicine Hat, Alta. and Moose Jaw, Sask. to minimize the costs of hauling bales to rail.
Hall said HayEast is also looking for volunteers to help administer the program because it is taxing the resources of APAS and Wild Rose Agricultural Producers.
