Growers have only harvested 15.7 per cent of crops in the Lac Ste. Anne region
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The weather in at least one Alberta county has forced its local reps to make an important statement.
“In response to a dire feed shortage amongst local livestock producers – coupled with a significant inventory of immature, unharvested crop remaining in field – County Council has declared a State of Agricultural Disaster within Lac Ste. Anny County,” the municipality said in a statement yesterday.
Snowfalls since September have brought harvest to a halt in the area.
Local grain producers have only harvested 15.7 per cent of their crops, an Oct. 2 report from the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) says. Harvest progress in the area at this time of year is typically around 62.7 per cent.
Provincial farm groups are urging AFSC to respond to claims of unharvested acres.
About 7.8 million Alberta acres remain unharvested, Team Alberta says. This collaboration includes Alberta Canola, Alberta Wheat and Barley, and Alberta Pulse Growers.
“Farmers need an early and clear indication of what the next steps might be in dealing with the severely downgraded and high moisture crops,” Jason Lenz, chair of Alberta Barley, said in a statement yesterday.
The affected area represents about $3 billion worth of crops, the groups say.
And one national farm organization is calling on the federal government to help.
Grain Growers of Canada is appealing to Minister MacAulay to review the possibility of an assistance program.
“We are writing to urge you to begin working with your provincial counterparts immediately to assess the state of harvest, the ability of our risk management programs to respond, and to consider whether an AgriRecovery response may be warranted in certain regions that have been hit especially hard by the weather,” Jeff Nielsen, president of Grain Growers of Canada and farmer from Olds, Alta., wrote in the letter yesterday.
Global News photo