CFA at Beginning Stages of Facilitating Hay West 2021

Aug 17, 2021

Ottawa ON – With farmers in the Prairie provinces facing a dire hay shortage due to devastating and prolonged drought conditions, CFA has begun work to facilitate a “Hay West” initiative to send surplus hay from farmers on the East Coast to those struggling in the West.

Canada’s farmers have supported each other in similar ways in the past. The first Hay West initiative occurred in 2002 when Prairie farmers were facing similar circumstances. Ten years later the situation was reversed, where Western farmers sent hay East to help farms stricken with drought.

“CFA is currently in the initial stages of facilitating a new Hay West program. We have our staff as well as a third-party working towards determining how much of a hay surplus is available, and are looking to work with the railways and the government to help these farmers that are in dire need of feed for their animals,” said Mary Robinson, CFA President.

“We believe this initiative will help ease some of the stress that Western farmers are dealing with,” added Robinson

“We’d also like to point to the new Climate Action Fund as the kind of support that farmers need to continue investing in sustainability initiatives as they face these incredibly difficult circumstances. It can be hard for farmers to invest further in sustainability as climate change impacts greatly affect their financial situations,” concluded Robinson.

CFA will provide more information on the Hay West initiative as the details become available, and will be working closely with the government and other stakeholders to ensure that farmers are supported and surplus hay reaches those that need it.

Source : CFA

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.