"The country music industry and the farmers...we're all related. We are all in one big family," says Canadian country singer Lisa Hewitt. In this 2002 CBC Radio clip, she explains why Canada's country musicians decided to put on the Say Hay concerts — two benefit shows to help Prairie farmers during a year of devastating drought. The concerts are generating a lot of positive feelings and improving awareness for the plight of the drought-stricken farmer. But are the proceeds being spent wisely?

• In 2002, farmers in the Prairies were experiencing their second consecutive year of severe drought. As a result, farmers were losing their crops, their livestock and, in some cases, their farms.
• The Say Hay concerts took place on Thanksgiving weekend of 2002: one in Calgary on Oct. 13 and one in Edmonton on Oct. 14.

• 28 well-known Canadian country music acts played at both shows. Performers included Lisa Hewitt, Duane Steele, Patricia Conroy, Adam Gregory, George Fox, Michelle Wright, Tom Jackson, Beverly Mahood and Doc Walker. CBC Radio called it "the largest gathering of Canadian country musicians ever."
• Between the two shows, there were approximately 21,500 spectators attending. Altogether the concerts raised about $1.5 million for the cause.

• Many of the musicians involved said they could relate to the farmers' situation, having grown up on farms themselves. In a 2002 Edmonton Journal article, Lisa Hewitt described the current depressing situation on her sister's ranch in western Saskatchewan. "It's completely barren out there, dry as a bone," she said, noting that her sister's family had to resort to selling some of its cattle.

• A review of the show in the Edmonton Journal praised the Edmonton show on several levels: "A mood of fun and fellowship coloured Sunday's show, which attracted a diverse group of young and old country music fans from throughout central and northern Alberta. Some came for the music, some came for the positive atmosphere, and some came because they felt it was the right thing to do."

• Some of the concert proceeds went to the Feed for 4H program and to the Alberta Farm Animal Care program. But the bulk of the concerts' proceeds went to the Hay West project. This was a highly publicized program in which the Eastern provinces banded together to ship their hay by train to the Prairies in 2002.
• For more on the drought, see the topic Devastating Dry Spells: Drought on the Prairies.

• Some critics called Hay West a misguided effort. Saskatchewan senator Herb Sparrow, for instance, said the amount of hay sent was less than one per cent of what was needed, and that the expense of shipping it from the east was extremely high compared to how little it was actually benefiting the farmers. A number of western agricultural specialists said it would make more financial sense to spend donated and government money on shipping the cattle to feedlots, according to an August 2002 Winnipeg Free Press article.

Medium: Radio
Program: The World This Weekend
Broadcast Date: Oct. 13, 2002
Reporter: Adrienne Lamb
Guest(s): Lisa Hewitt, Duane Steele, Greg Thomas
Duration: 6:02

Music by George Fox, PROCAN