The Rural Voice, 1980-08, Page 27RURAL NEWS IN BRIEF
Manitoba farmers travel east
to get Wroxeter hay
Drought has been a real problem on
farms in the prairie provinces this
summer, but now those farmers are getting
an assist from government.
Provincial governments, Ottawa and the
railways have aid plans in which each
covers transportation and most handling
costs of shipping Ontario feed to Western
cattle.
But at least one family had its own ideal
solution to the problem when they decided
to save on loading costs by coming to a
relative's farm in Ontario and loading up
the hay themselves.
Ron and Bob Renwick of Coulter,
Manitoba and John Harmon of Melita, a
small farm community in the southwest
corner of that province, will be busy for the
next three weeks or so, loading bales onto
CP boxcars at a small siding in the Huron
County village of Wroxeter.
Providing the hay for Mr. Harmon and
the Renwicks is Mac Inglis of R.R. 1,
Clifford whose grandfather was a brother
of the Renwick's grandfather.
Mr. Harmon said he was here buying
hay for himself, his father and his brothers
and was assisted in his efforts by a friend,
Lloyd Bugg of Napinka, Manitoba. Ron, his
son Reg and Bob Renwick were busy
loading hay for their family, including
another brother Orville at home.
Mr. Harmon's father and Ron Renwick
are on council together in the rural
municipality of Arthur, Manitoba and
according to John Harmon, "Ron's the
fella that had all the contacts here. He was
the guy that really got things organized."
"There seems to be lots of hay available
here," Mr. Harmon said, adding that he
was buying about 15,000 bales, while the
Renwicks were buying about 20,000.
He figured they would end up shipping
about 70 cars which would contain about
500 bales each.
Mr. Harmon said he had a very small
hay crop of his own. "Our hay crop is
pretty short, really. We're only getting 10
to 20 per cent of what we usually get."
Ron Renwick said the transportation of
the hay had been co-ordinated through the
Manitoba government which set up a deal
with the railroads and other farmers can
then buy their hay through the govern-
ment.
"What we're saving by being down here
is the cost of loading it," Mr. Renwick
said.
While these families may have thought
of this solution to their problem, at least
two transport companies in Bruce County
are doing a whopping business, by
transporting hay out west.
Jim Hutton, secretary of the Lloyd
Hutton Transport Co. Ltd. in Paisley said
the company had been buying hay within a
30 mile radius of Paisley, loading it onto
trucks which take it out west and which
return from the west with a load of cattle.
The transport company loads some of the
Prairie Livestock trucks as well as their
own and the trucks then take the loads of
hay directly to the west.
Asked how much the hay was selling for
out west, Mr. Hutton said there was a lot of
difference, ranging anywhere from S2 to S4
a bale.
In Ontario, the price is usually around Si
a bale. The company gets S2 to S2.50 a
bale, depending on how far out west it has
to be taken and the cost includes the price
of hay plus transportation.
Although some transport companies are
working in co-operation with the govern-
ment, as far as the Lloyd Hutton Transport
is concerned, it's strictly a venture of their
own.
Carl Fotheringham's Livestock Trans-
port of Mildmay has a different arrange-
ment.
The company loads trucks which have
brought cattle into Toronto and which stop
and get a load of hay on their way back to
the west, or other empty trucks that are
going out west to pick up cattle.
John Harmon (on top) and Fred Bugg from Melita, Manitoba, Reg Renwick and
Ron Renwick of Coulter, Manitoba work to fill up boxcars taking the hay out went to
their farms. The men bought hay from an Ontario relative of the Renwicks—Mac
Inglis of R.R.1, Clifford to solve the drought problems with their own hay crops.
They loaded the boxcars up at the railway siding In Wroxeter.
(Photo by Ranney)
THE RURAL VOICE/AUGUST 1980 PG. 25