Janice Wistra says her lifelong involvement in 4-H and belief in the program have been shattered after she was told by a 4-H official that he didn’t have to tell her how almost $1 million in feed assistance has been distributed.
The Elk Point farmer said she was told by Bruce Banks, head of the
4-H Foundation that administered the Say Hay Farm Assistance Program, that he wasn’t accountable to her to reveal how the farmers who received the money were chosen.
“We’re strong supporters of the
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4-H program but when you get someone representing 4-H Foundation calling me stupid, my belief is shaken,” said Wistra.
She was puzzled when her application for feed for a 100-cow herd was rejected and an almost identical application by her parents, also for a 100-cow herd, was accepted.
Just over 800 applications were approved out of 1,604 applications from Alberta farmers for some share of the $932,000 raised through donations and two benefit concerts.
In a letter sent to producers whose applications were rejected, Banks said: “The committee’s aim was to provide a grant that would be of some benefit to as many significant breeding operations as possible.”
Tom Makowecki of Edmonton is one of few sheep producers in the province who relies solely on income from his 200-head Romanov sheep flock. He too was surprised his application was rejected.
“I was surprised we didn’t get anything. We were certainly hoping we could get some,” said Makowecki.
Doug Laurie, who tried to find feed for small-flock sheep producers, has not been able to find any who got assistance through the Say Hay program nor has he found answers about criteria used for choosing recipients.
“It’s turned into an absolute scam,” said Laurie. “When 4-H asks me to do something for them again, the answer is no. Never ever, ever again.”
Laurie said he has clashed with Banks several times. Banks did not return calls for this story.
