CFA has received enough donation to get the program running.Ottawa—Hay West is up and running, says the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, which is collecting names of people looking to supply or buy hay under the program.President Mary Robinson said the CFA has received enough contributions from different parties to begin moving substantial amounts of hay.“The Hay West program is an amazing example of the kindness of farmers and how farmers across Canada, despite their many differences, have each other's backs when true disaster strikes,” she said. “Farmers are donating thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars worth of hay to support those struggling from the drought. It's incredibly heartening to see the response that we have from those farmers that have been more fortunate this year.”Hay West 2021 is operating on a break-even basis. Hay is being purchased from eastern Canada suppliers and will be resold at cost to recipients. The price will be 10 cents a pound for all hay supplied. Net weights of loads will be provided. Rounds and squares of varying dimensions will be supplied as available.As of Sept 17th, registered suppliers in Ontario, Quebec, PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have offered 38,000 bales of hay, with an estimated extra 5,000 bales coming in the near future. CFA is expecting more hay to become available – some to be pledged and some donated, she said.CFA expects this number to go up substantially during the next month as it builds momentum and learns how best to ship and distribute hay. As of Sept. 16, a thousand bales of hay have been sent through to the Prairies.Anyone wishing to buy or supply hay should go to the website www.haywest2021.net. Those who are able to supply hay can sign up at this website using a link near the bottom of the page. Inquiries can be directed to [email protected] said hay is being prioritized for those farmers who have breeding herds and access to water for their herds. It is working with its provincial members to develop a distribution protocol that will result in securing as much breeding stock as possible –losing breeding stock will have the most serious consequences for the national herd levels for years to come.The drought has caused severe feed shortages in Western Canada, with estimates of a shortfall of up to a 4 million tonnes. “The Hay West program will never be able to address the entire shortfall but the goal is to provide relief to as many of our western farmers who are most in need as possible, to save breeding stock and to help facilitate a meaningful opportunity for Eastern Canadian producers to show support to their Western counterparts.“A drought of this magnitude brings serious implications beyond food production – in particular it compounds farmers' stress levels and can erode overall mental health for farmers and farm families.”Donations to the program can be made to CFA – www.cfa-fca.ca