A row of farmers sat quietly on the hard wooden chairs at the back of
the room in a hotel banquet room in Camrose, Alta., silently hoping
their names would be drawn from a barrel.
They were waiting to win a free semi trailer load of hay. This year,
when feed is expensive and almost impossible to find, a load of hay is
a good win.
The trip was worthwhile for dairy farmer Bo Arvidsson of Rollyview,
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whose name was the 10th drawn from a list of 3,590 names entered into
the draw barrel by members of the Alberta Cattle Commission.
“It means a lot. It will sure help,” said Arvidsson, who just spent
$50,000 to buy hay from southern Alberta to feed his 50 dairy cattle.
“I have to keep the dairy herd to keep my family going.”
It’s not finalized yet, but Arvidsson expects to receive about 40 bales
as his share of the hay that started to arrive this week.
“The goodwill of those Ontario farmers really touched my heart,” he
said.
Glen Romanuik of Bawlf heard about the hay lottery too late, but came
to Camrose hoping to add his name to the draw barrel.
But the lottery was closed and Romanuik sat at the back and watched. He
has spent $13,000 to bring hay from Saskatchewan. He’ll mix that hay
with last year’s straw and a bit of grain to get his cattle through the
winter.
“I just won’t have any bedding. I’ve got to feed it.”
Canadian Alliance MP Kevin Sorenson, who organized the Alberta portion
of the distribution of 1,000 tonnes of hay donated by Ontario farmers
to Alberta and Saskatchewan farmers, said his office was not prepared
to handle the calls from farmers searching for hay.
The staff recorded 3,590 names before they cut off calls to their rural
riding office.
“We could have had 10 telephone lines and still not had enough,” said
Sorenson. His staff and a group of volunteers spent long hours and
weekends registering callers.
“We’ve been through the eye of a hurricane.”
The Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association recorded more than 6,500
names to put into the lottery.
“The lines were jammed 24 hours a day,” said Brad Wildeman, acting
president of the cattle feeders.
Despite the generosity of farmers, the hay can only be spread so thin.
Only 25-50 farmers in each province will benefit.
“The need is great, the supply is little, but we appreciate the
goodwill of Ontario farmers,” said Sorenson.
The first shipment of 14 rail cars was to arrive in Wainwright, Alta.,
on Aug 5.
The federal government said it will cover the cost of fumigating the
donated hay. The fumigation is needed to prevent the spread of a cereal
leaf beetle, a pest not found in the Prairies. It will also reimburse
some of the costs associated with loading the donated hay.
The Canadian Armed Forces provided logistical advice on the
co-ordination and loading of the donated hay at the railhead.
