A fire that destroyed more than 1,100 round bales of hay at one of
Canada’s largest sheep feedlots has not forced the owner to stop buying
sheep and lambs from western Canadian producers.
Diane Leitch said the Sept. 16 fire at her 20,000-head sheep feedlot in
Craven, Sask., slowed down the operation, but it is searching for
replacement feed and will continue to buy sheep and lambs.
“Fortunately not all the hay had been delivered,” said Leitch from
Brandon, where another 20,000 sheep and lambs are fed in the home
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feedlot.
“When the fire happened you’re sure scrambling,” said Leitch, whose
husband, Roy, travels to sheep and lamb sales in Western Canada.
He was buying animals at Dawson Creek, B.C., when he heard of the fire.
It’s believed to have started from hay bales that had started to heat.
Three days after the fire, sparks blew into a bale in the tub grinder
at the Craven yard and the tub grinder was burned.
“Putting out a bale fire is just about impossible,” she said.
After the fire, Leitch said several farmers offered hay for sale, but
at inflated prices, some for $120 a tonne plus delivery.
“I was shocked. They said, ‘you have insurance, don’t you?’ They
thought it was all right to rip off the insurance companies. Just
because it’s an insurance claim they automatically want the sky. You
can only pay so much.”
Most of the original hay cost about $80 a tonne delivered. They
estimate the replacement hay will cost more, even with insurance to
help pay the bill.
Alberta sheep producer Doug Laurie said he breathed a sigh of relief
when he heard Leitch was continuing to buy sheep and lambs despite the
setback.
“To have a guy like Roy Leitch out of the business would shut the sheep
business down fast,” said Laurie. “When you can’t find feed at
affordable prices, I don’t know why they continue to buy. Roy is the
plus in this.”
