Alabamians Return Favor, Donate Hay to Wisconsin

LUCK, Wis. — Alabama farmers helped by Midwestern hay donations during last year’s Southern drought returned the favor Monday when truckloads of hay arrived to help parched Wisconsin dairy farms.

“We really appreciate it,” said Mark Johnson, 29, one of the dairy farmers receiving hay from Alabama. “The main thing is it’s given us some hope. That’s going to go farther than the hay itself.”

A convoy of three flatbed trucks and two covered semi-trailer trucks loaded with hay paraded through downtown with a fire and police escort about noon, said Milo Olson, Polk County agricultural agent.

More Truckloads on Way

Two other truckloads were en route, bringing the total amount to about 200,000 pounds, he said.

Johnson and other farmers brought wagons and trucks to haul the hay home.

“We’re very thankful to the Alabama farmers and the people of Alabama,” Olson said.

The Alabama hay lift to Luck was the first of several shipments to Wisconsin farmers expected to continue through the fall. Alabama Gov. Guy Hunt has said rail shipments may also begin this fall.

A long, hot and dry summer is expected to leave Polk County’s 740 dairy farmers short 3.5 million to 4 million bales of hay, with the average bale weighing 50 pounds, Olson said. The county is one of 10 in northern Wisconsin that Gov. Tommy G. Thompson has declared a disaster area. Farmers in those counties are hoping for federal assistance.

The drought, which some farmers have described as the worst in more than 50 years, hurt hay crops, which are needed as winter feed for dairy herds. The season’s first and second crops were very poor, and while third crops may be better, they will not make up the loss, Olson said.

Many May Have to Quit

Up to 20% of the region’s farmers may be forced to quit as a result of the drought, Olson said. The counties are expected to need an estimated 7.5 million bales of hay before winter, said Sean Malone, assistant coordinator for the state’s emergency hay lift.

The office has coordinated donations of about 40,000 bales of hay to the area so far and at least that much has been sent to stricken farms through private efforts, Malone said. Farmers in Iowa have offered to help, and a group in Illinois has about 10,000 bales of hay for Wisconsin farmers but still needs a way to move it north, he said.

The plight of northwestern Wisconsin and neighboring parts of Minnesota has received less attention than Southern farmers’ problems did last year, but the situation is similar, farmers said.