The Municipal District of Greenview in west central Alberta is sounding the alarm over challenging conditions faced by the livestock agricultural industry.

Recently, Greenview council officially declared an agricultural disaster for its livestock industry, pointing to worsening drought conditions and severe grasshopper infestation.

As a result, many livestock producers are struggling to supply enough feed for their animals and may need to turn to liquidation — selling off parts of their herds.

Local livestock producer Bill Smith, also deputy reeve and Ward Eight councillor, commented, “Usually in the north we know how to deal with too much rain, but not enough rain is something that’s very new to us. In my lifetime we’ve only experienced it a few times, and never at this level, this many years in a row.”

Smith explained that cattle farmers, for example, breed and raise cattle for the best genetics to suit their environment, a process that can take years. In addition to the emotional stress of parting with your herd early, Smith said liquidating ahead of schedule creates ripple effects into the next reproduction season as well as downstream to processing facilities.

In an effort to address these challenges, the municipal district sent a letter to RJ Sigurdson, minister of agriculture and irrigation.

The letter outlines the challenges causing the state of disaster and calls on the provincial government to advocate to Ottawa for the area’s inclusion in the federal Livestock Tax Deferral program. This would allow producers who do need to liquidate to defer a portion of the income made to the following year for taxation.

In response to the letter, Sigurdson said his ministry understands the challenges faced by farmers in recent years and will continue to monitor the situation and support producers as needed.

In the meantime, he suggested producers explore the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation’s business risk management programs, such as its AgriInsurance, AgriStability and AgriInvest options, or its Moisture Deficiency Insurance program.

Sigurdson also noted that governments have extended the enrolment deadline for the AgriStability program to July 31.

Alberta’s opposition NDP shadow minister for agriculture and irrigation, Heather Sweet, expressed concern that Albertans will feel the impact of these disasters in the grocery store.

“The increased drought conditions require a plan from the UCP government,” she said.

Greenview Reeve Tyler Olsen said by declaring the state of disaster, council hopes to bring the issue to the attention of the provincial and federal governments and define the situation for insurance purposes.

In the meantime, Olsen and Smith both encourage farmers to reach out for support during this particularly trying time.

“When it’s a family run business that you live there day in, day out — a lot of us, we have our jobs, but you can go home and get away from it. When you’re farming, you’re ranching; you’re not. You live that 24-7, you don’t get a choice,” said Olsen. “And when it starts going bad, and then even into this year where it’s horrible, you don’t get that break, you don’t get what you need to recover mentally from it.”

Pincher Creek and Cypress County have also declared agricultural disasters for their areas.

Source - https://northeastnow.com