Southside resident Clint Lambert, who is the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako director of electoral area E, announced via Facebook that he is organizing a hay donation program to send to flood-impacted farms down south.
Lakes District News spoke to Lambert, who said the process is still in the early stages. “I’ve been in contact with the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, and they’re still waiting until there’s a clear way to bring trucks in, so everything is up in the air right now,” said Lambert.
“According to the one person I talked to, there is enough hay inside the cutoff area for about 30 days, after that, we’re going to have to find a way to get it down there.”
Lambert told Lakes District News that he’s using his farm located in Grassy Plains as a depot to collect hay, and is also in the process of setting up depots in both Smithers and Houston. It takes around 50 bales of hay to fill what’s called a B train trailer, and Lambert is hoping to fill several with donations.
“I think we could get a couple filled off of donations from Southside alone,” he said.
According to Lambert, the reason behind the project is simple; to help fellow farming community members who are in need. “In 2018, we had those fires on the Southside, and we were fighting to save our ranches. Lots of other farmers came and helped us through that situation, and this is a way of paying that forward. The farming community is tight knit, and we look after each other.”
The importance of hay to a farm lies with the health of cattle. “Without hay, cows will starve, it’s their main diet,” said Lambert. “A cow is like a human, it can only go three days without water and five days without food before it dies. The thought of animals dying like that makes me sick, and something has to be done about it.”
If interested in donating hay for the cause, Lambert can be contacted at clintlambert@rdbn.bc.ca
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Eddie Huband
Multimedia Reporter
eddie.huband@ldnews.net
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