The hay donated from eastern Canada is no cheaper. The cost to move a flat car is about 40 cents a mile. That translates to about $250 per tonne from Ottawa to Edmonton. Eastern producers will have eventually shipped between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes to Alberta and Saskatchewan. Jo Anne Lemke, of the Alberta Cattlemen’s Association, has called the donation wonderful. "It has really buoyed the spirit of our producers," she said in an interview. Alberta is short about 400,000 tonnes.

However, other factors are changing. Southern Alberta has been getting rain. What’s more, the cow population is rapidly declining. Cow slaughter numbers in August are up 15 per cent. What no one knows is how many cows have been shipped out to where the feed is. They have gone to southern Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and Ontario.

Alberta’s $1 billion relief program will provide on average about $4200 per farmer, not nearly enough for hard hit producers, who in some cases have feed bills over $100,000.

John Ruzicka, who raises pregnant mares for urine, said it’s ironic that eastern farmers are better to them than their Alberta brethren. The Alberta southerners have lost all their scruples, he said.

But the southern farmers say this is only tit for tat. They’re just getting even for bad quality straw sent south last year at exorbitant prices.

At the same time there is a call to shut down the border for hay exports. The American far west is suffering a similar drought to Alberta’s.