The federal government will pay for another 190 rail cars to haul hay
from Eastern Canada to feed-starved cattle producers in Saskatchewan
and Alberta.
That brings to 377 the number of rail cars paid for by Ottawa. The
federal government is also paying to fumigate the hay, along with
handling and administration costs, for a total cost of around $3.8
million.
Another 187 cars have been donated by the two national railways, with
82 more sponsored by private corporations, for a total of 646 cars,
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carrying roughly 42,000 bales of hay.
Hay West, the volunteer organization behind the rail shipments, is also
organizing trucks to carry hay west.
Fifteen trucks, carrying about 60 square bales each, had hit the road
as of Sept. 9, with the total expected to reach 50 to 60, according to
Hay West spokesperson Wyatt McWilliams.
The trucking costs are paid for using donations raised by Hay West,
which as of this week stood at about $400,000.
McWilliams said the organization will continue to press the federal
government to provide more rail cars.
“We still have more hay,” he said. “It’s a question of getting the
trains and getting them to the locations and getting the hay from the
farms to the trains.”
