Merv Grunow wasn’t a winner in the second Hay West lottery in Camrose,
Alta., but the bison rancher did see the best of his community and
Canada when he helped unload 27 train cars of hay in Wainwright, Alta.
“The drought has brought the community together and it has brought
Canada together,” said Grunow, who co-ordinated the Ontario hay
unloading.
Grunow was one of 60 farmers and ranchers who came to Camrose to watch
and hope their names would be drawn from a barrel packed with almost
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
10,000 slips of paper.
“I guess my name’s still in there,” said Grunow after the draw.
Eighty names were drawn as potential winners of the 40-car train loaded
with hay donated by Ontario farmers. Another 20 names were drawn for a
waiting list.
CP Rail was scheduled to deliver hay from this second Alberta hay
lottery to the AgPro elevator siding in Killam, Alta., on Aug. 15. CN
Rail delivered the first shipments to Wainwright. Grunow spent a week
co-ordinating the unloading of 27 cars of hay in Wainwright, one of
Alberta’s hardest hit drought areas.
“There’s something about a disaster that brings people together,” said
Grunow, who was forced to sell two-thirds of his bison herd recently
when he ran out of feed.
With only a few telephone calls, Grunow found implement dealers who
supplied tractors to unload the hay, restaurants that supplied food and
coffee for volunteers, and farmers to help co-ordinate the trucks as
the train cars arrived throughout the week.
Three cars arrived Aug. 5, 11 on Aug. 6, 12 on Aug. 8 and one on Aug. 9.
For some, the roughly 40 round bales for each of the winners made the
difference between keeping their best cows or selling their entire
herd, Grunow said.
“They can take those 40 bales, cut it with straw and turn it into three
or four months’ feed,” he said.
“I’ve done a lot of volunteering, but I’ve never worked with anyone
that was so gratified and happy.”
Canadian Alliance MP Kevin Sorenson said bringing hay from Ontario
isn’t a cost effective way to feed Alberta livestock, but it is a way
to raise awareness of the drought.
“What it did was to highlight the fact we are in the worst drought we
have ever seen … but we have yet to be visited by the minister of
agriculture or anyone in cabinet,” said Sorenson, whose office
co-ordinated the Alberta portion of the hay lottery draw.
“We want to press the federal government to move. We have a drought
like we have never seen.”
