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Drought-stricken farms get Baptist hay lift in Tennessee

Disaster relief volunteers have added drought relief to their ministry in Tennessee, reports Baptist Press.

Volunteers began delivering emergency supplies of hay to drought-stricken dairy and beef farmers in eastern Tennessee in mid-November. Annual rainfall in the region is more than a foot below average.

David Acres, disaster relief director for the Tennessee Baptist Convention, reported that the hay is being delivered "to farm areas which experienced drought left over from this summer, that have low-level lakes and where the winter situation is bad for cattle farmers."

Three disaster relief tractor-trailer rigs, the Tennessee Baptist Convention's "Hurricane Hunter" and "Storm Chaser" and the Sullivan Baptist Association's "Volunteer Express" from Kingsport have pulled rented flatbed trailers with hay grown in other states to Tennessee's Loudon, Monroe and Bradley counties.

Larry Kirkland, a retired independent trucker and member of Blairland Baptist Church in Loudon, is credited with being the "brains" behind the hay lift.

Kirkland buys the hay himself and the farmer reimburses him for the hay as well as fuel, food and lodging for the driver. Through the ministry, hay that would have cost farmers more than $90 per roll costs them less than $50.

"It's terrible over here in east Tennessee, and it's a big hurt for a farmer," said Kirkland, who grew up on a farm in Monroe County. When he heard about the plight of farmers in the region, he mentioned it to Acres, who encouraged him to tackle the hay lift.

Since the operation's launch Nov. 15, hay rolls have been transported from Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Georgia, Arkansas and Texas. Contacts for hay supplies have come from across the country and on the Internet. In Mt. Vernon, Texas, the farmers supplying hay are all Baptist church members, Kirkland said.

"This hay lift has become a great witnessing tool," Kirkland noted. "We delivered hay to a farmer in Loudon, who hadn't been in church for 20 years, and he broke down in tears."

Recent storms in some of the drought areas have been "a little too late for the farmers, because the cows have nothing to eat," Kirkland said. "There are a bunch of hay rolls still needed."

[02/27/2008]

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