Zainab Al-Mehdar
Pontiac Dec. 1, 2021
Much of Western Canada experienced a difficult summer and is heading into a tough winter, one local farmer said as he is hoping to bring attention to the drought to farming communities here in Pontiac.
“You’re trying to help somebody when they need help. What goes around comes around,” said Garnet Stephens, a local Clarendon farmer. He hopes he can drum up enough attention so . . .
his neighbours and other community members can donate what they can to help efforts in Western Canada.
Talking to The Equity, Stephens, who is also the director of the Union des Producteurs Agricoles (UPA) said, “Often that’s all it takes is for somebody to have the information in front of them and then they’ll go ahead and take action.”
Initially intending to send extra hay that he had on his farm, Stephens found out that the organization planning relief efforts, the Mennonite Disaster Service, was able to locate hay feed from areas closer to the affected farms. They can move it for far less than bringing hay all the way from Eastern Canada.
The non-profit organization is based on a volunteer network of Canadian Anabaptist churches that work with U.S. Anabaptist churches to respond to those affected by disasters in Canada and the United States. Their main focus is cleaning up, repairing and rebuilding homes.
“Their biggest need is funding to transport donated hay to the areas where it’s needed,” said Stephens.
The farming community has always been tight-knit, explains Stephens. Farmers all over Canada band together when they are facing difficult situations. In 2002 Stephens and his son, Scott, joined neighbours who also donated hay to send out west because the farmers there had been hit with a drought. In 2012, the west returned the favour as the Pontiac was one of the hardest hit by the drought and they had very little pasture and feed was scarce and expensive.
To help with the situation, the Mennonite Disaster Service joined forces with the Quebec Farmers Association and donated hay from Western to Eastern Canada.
“We all eat every day. We can’t do that if we don’t have farmers,” said Stephens hoping by shining a light on the issues farmers and individuals will donate.
As things get tougher for farmers out west, Stephens said: “What I wanted to do was just make the public aware that it’s still a problem.” He emphasized there is a misconception that when farmers get their first rain the drought is over, and in some ways that is true. But after all that time without water, farmers are unable to grow crops and animal feed. Often farmers are forced to sell their cows and prices drop so “they get nearly nothing for their cows,” said Stephens. And usually, it’s the younger farmers that are hardest hit because they’re the ones who have mortgage payments on their land compared to a more established farmer who has been doing this for years.
For folks who wish to donate, people can go to MDS.org or contact Lester Weber the organizer in Manitoba at 1-519-584-4171. If people wish to write a cheque, they can designate it to Haywest 2021. If you have any questions on hay donations or hay availability reach out to local farmer Stephens at 819-647-6378.
For Stephens this issue is important because it’s about community. “It’s the moral support that somebody who doesn’t know you, but is aware of your situation, is willing to help,” said Stephens because it’s as mentally exhausting as it is physically draining he added.
