wfn.org | Hay lift helps save drought-stricken farms

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Dec. 7, 1999  News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212)870-3803·New York
10-24-71B{659}

By Daniel R. Gangler*

PLEASANT CITY, Ohio (UMNS) -- Despite the continuing drought in southeastern
Ohio, one woman is determined to save at least 100 farms by finding and
transporting hay cross-country.
 
During the last two months, Mary Woodward, a United Methodist and director
of Lutheran Social Services in southeastern Ohio, has built a national
network to find hay and haul it from as far away as Nebraska to save farm
operations in 24 southeastern Ohio counties.

Ohio continues to suffer one of the worst droughts of the century. According
to the U.S. Geological Survey, the drought gripping the mid-Atlantic area
could surpass those of 1929 and 1966 to become the most devastating drought
since the Depression.
 
Woodward, a member of Mt. Ephraim United Methodist Church, said she sees no
relief in sight. "We don't have any water and are 10 inches below the
average rainfall. Creek beds have dried up. We must haul water, find hay,
and hope to re-seed hayfields in the spring." 
      
Her personal mission to get hay to the farms reflects that of the Family
Farm Drought Response, an ecumenical coalition created to bring much-needed
support for farmers throughout the mid-Atlantic who are facing lost crops,
unmanageable debt and significant emotional strain as a result of the
drought. 
      
Woodward said 400 to 500 tons of hay are needed this winter to save the
drought-stricken farms she is helping. One cow will eat two tons of hay
during the winter. 
      
In November, for example, a score of farmers lined up in a parking lot in
Mercerville to take their turn in picking up two large bales of hay each.
One bale is about the size of a compact car.

Woodward tries to keep this trickle of hay coming to the area she serves.
She estimates as many as 1,500 full-time farmers in the region could use
help. Many are selling cattle to reduce their herd size because they can't
find enough hay for them or can't afford to haul the hay to their cattle. 
      
She established the hay distribution plan when Everett Montgomery, a dairy
farmer who feeds 140 cows, paid more than $2,500 for a tractor-trailer load
of junk hay shipped from Michigan. It was unusable. She also has witnessed
price gouging, driving the cost of a bale of hay from $20 to $40, and the
cost of a ton of hay from $120 to $200. 
      
Woodward works closely with the Rev. John Jackson, pastor of New Life
Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Gallipolis, Ohio. "I have helped her interface
with trucking companies in the area," he said. In addition to preaching,
Jackson also farms and knows the plight of the farmers in south Ohio. 
      
"This is an enormously deprived area. We've always been at the bottom
economically," he said. "She is trying to bring what she does best to us.
She has found hay and seeks a way of getting it here." More importantly, he
added, "she shows us that somebody cares."

Working through churches and church organizations, Woodward's first priority
is assisting full-time farmers, like Montgomery, who farms with his brother.
These are farmers with the immediate need that will not wait. Many are
continuously on the brink of economic ruin.
 
Second priority goes to small farm operations of less than 200 acres where
one or more family members has another job besides farming, usually in a
nearby town. This incorporates people like William Cox in Gallia, who only
needs eight to 10 bales of hay to get his mother's herd of 15 cattle through
the winter. These farmers need hay in three or four weeks to sustain
operations. 
      
Third priority goes to farmers who can make it through the winter, but need
hay in the spring before hayfields are ready for harvesting.
 
"We still find hay to buy, but it is getting scarce," Woodward said. Her
most immediate need, however, is finding a way to transport hay from remote
areas. She needs truckers who are willing to donate their services hauling
hay from Nebraska, Wisconsin and Michigan back to Ohio. 
      
Woodward is also working on an agreement with rail services to bring hay to
her drought-stricken area. One service is the Orphan Grain Train, a North
American volunteer network that gathers donations of clothing, medicine,
food, Christian literature and other items in response to needs around the
world.

A pastor in Nebraska founded Orphan Grain Train after he visited Latvia in
1992 and saw the need for spiritual and humanitarian aid in countries of the
former Soviet Union. Orphan Grain Train has helped Woodward by shipping
grain from Nebraska and Wisconsin. 
     
Woodward's efforts have had positive results so far. "We've only lost two
farms out of 100," she said.
# # #
*This story first appeared on the World Wide Web site of Disaster News
Network at www.disasternews.net.
      

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://www.umc.org/umns