Ottawa supports Hay West with an additional $3 million

Dec 17, 2021

This funding will help cover shipping costs

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A program designed to transport hay from farmers in Eastern Canada to producers in the Prairies is receiving more funding from the federal government.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced an additional $3 in federal funding for the Hay West program. This brings the government’s total support to $4 million after committing $1 million in September.

“Since August, Hay West has shipped 5.6 million pounds (about 150 shipments) of hay from the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario to farmers in need,” Bibeau told reporters on Dec. 15.

These initial shipments have helped feed about 17,000 head of cattle on more than 75 farms across Western Canada.

In the last month, however, no hay has traveled west.

Farmers in Eastern Canada have offered upwards of 100 million tonnes of hay to be shipped west.

But there’s not enough money to cover the transportation costs.

Shipping costs average between 15 and 20 cents per pound of hay. This means that at 15 cents per pound, it would cost about $15 million to ship all 100 million tonnes of hay.

While the government funding is welcomed and will help Prairie producers receive hay for their livestock, it falls well short of the total support needed, said Mary Robinson, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), the organization spearheading Hay West.

“These funds will help avert disaster for a few months,” she told reporters Dec. 15. “But we will need more hay to keep western herds viable and avoid culling valuable breeding stock.”

This recent government funding could help producers until March of 2022, Robinson added.

CFA had originally asked the federal government for $6 million.

But even that wouldn’t be enough money.

“We now know both the demand and potential supply of hay greatly exceed what $6 million would allow us to transport,” she said, adding the hay deficit in the west is about four million tonnes.

CFA is urging industry to come forward with donations towards Hay West.

CN Rail has donated $125,000 and committed to matching further donations up to an additional $125,000.

“The more funding we secure, the more breeding stock we can help maintain and the faster we will recover from this,” Robinson said.

Farm Credit Canada, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the government of Prince Edward Island have also donated to the cause.

Farmers who donate hay can receive payments for their hay. Many of them have donated the money back to Hay West, Robinson said.

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