Farmers Rise to Call, Send Hay to South : ‘Spirit of America Showing’ as Fodder Keeps Animals Alive

Farmers coast to coast today were donating tons of hay to the seared South, where a drought has caused more than $1.5 billion in damage, and cattlemen queued up in Atlanta for a new 4,000-bale shipment for their starving livestock.

Scattered thunderstorms that dropped more than 4 1/2 inches of rain on Cornelia, Ga., within 70 minutes Thursday afternoon and kept temperatures below 100 degrees for the third straight day provided some relief from the drought and heat wave, which has been blamed for 43 deaths.

Officials at the Atlanta Farmers Market began distributing 100 tons of hay this morning to about 100 farmers who were waiting in line there. Some had been waiting since Wednesday, when a 40-ton shipment of hay ran out.

‘Hope This Helps’

A note attached to one bale read: “Fellow farmers--hope this helps.” It was signed “McPhersons, LaVelle, Wis.”

The farmer who found the note, Wayne Head of Walton County, said he has no hay and little water for his 65 beef cattle. “This is good hay. It’s gonna help some,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of hay coming in, which is great,” said Tommy Irvin, Georgia’s agriculture commissioner. “The calls we’re getting now have picked up tempo, from coast to coast. That’s the spirit of America showing now.”

Hay also has been gathered for the South in Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Connecticut, New York, Vermont, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Wisconsin, with deliveries planned from as far as Washington state.

U.S. Opens Hot Line

Calls were flooding in to a toll-free U.S. Department of Agriculture hot line which began operating today to provide information about government programs, said Betsy Bailey, who answered the line at the agency’s Washington offices. She said several hundred farmers had called to ask for help by mid-morning.

South Carolina’s governor has asked that 39 of the state’s 46 counties be declared disaster areas, making them eligible for low-interest federal loans. Georgia’s governor has proclaimed Sunday a day of prayer for rain, and the mayor of Chattanooga, Tenn., proclaimed “Cool It Week” and urged residents to dress casually to keep cool.

President Reagan provided moral support during a barnstorming visit to Columbia, S.C., Thursday, praising farmers for their mettle and saying that his Administration “stands ready to help.”