NAVAN, Ont. – As the last truck of donated hay left this farming
community on the edge of Ottawa Oct. 31 heading for Stettler, Alta.,
the organizers and supporters of the Hay West project assessed their
success and their impact.
They saw nothing but good.
“It was farmer helping farmer, Canadian helping Canadian, community
helping community,” said Wyatt McWilliams, the Navan farmer who started
the drive to ship hay west after seeing a July 17 news report about the
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“It really makes me proud to be a Canadian farmer.”
With the help of volunteers, more than 1,800 farmers in Ontario,
Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, corporate and government
donations and fundraisers across the country, more than 35,000 tonnes
of hay were sent to Saskatchewan and Alberta.
At least 20,000 more tonnes were pledged but were not shipped before
the season ended. Canadian Food Inspection Agency rules require that
the hay be fumigated for cereal leaf beetle, but fumigation isn’t
possible in cold weather.
Hay West organizers say that approximately 1,000 prairie farmers
received hay through lotteries in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
“We have been blessed,” said Willard McWilliams, a horseman who worked
with his son, Wyatt, on the project. “Nobody ever left us with a slack
trace. Everybody pulled in the same direction.”
The last shipment west took on the air of a festival as farmers,
politicians, neighbours and local school children gathered for the
sendoff.
Students from Meadowview Public School in Navan were there to sing O
Canada and then sign the plastic covering on the final hay shipment.
Crowfoot, Alta., Canadian Alliance MP Kevin Sorenson waxed emotional
about eastern farmers’ generosity and western farmers’ appreciation.
“This load behind me is more than a load of hay,” said Sorenson, who
organized the hay lotteries in Alberta. “It is a load of hope.”
A representative from the office of McWilliams’ MP, Liberal House
leader Don Boudria, said Wyatt would be given the Canadian flag that
flew over Parliament’s Peace Tower that day.
By the end of the campaign, Canadians had donated $500,000 and
corporations almost another $400,000 to cover the cost of moving hay
west.
The railways provided 187 free rail cars, the federal government paid
for 377 cars, the western Say Hay campaign paid for 100 cars, Molson
Breweries donated 20 cars and First Energy Capital paid for 50 cars.
An additional 9,000 large bales were trucked west in 160 loads.
