By Troy Gillard

Governments called to act

Urgent help needed for farmers suffering through “harvest from hell”: Team Alberta

Nov 13, 2019 | 3:29 PM

A coalition of Alberta’s agriculture commissions says more action is needed to help producers as they struggle to deal with a “harvest from hell.”

Team Alberta says major trade disruptions are still blocking farm exports into important global markets, and business risk management (BRM) programs are ill-equipped to mitigate these issues.

This along with the federal carbon tax looming on January 1, Team Alberta says, means aggressive action from governments is needed on serious economic hardships facing farmers.

“Farmers are facing the perfect storm of devastating harvest conditions, trade uncertainty and a lack of support through programs that should be mitigating these challenges,” says Dave Bishop, Alberta Barley chair.

According to the latest Alberta crop report, this year’s wet conditions have resulted in 11 per cent of the province’s crop still left in the fields. Most notable, 17.3 per cent of the canola crop, nearly 15 per cent of the potato crop and 45 per cent of the sugar beet crop have gone unharvested.

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Team Alberta says unharvested acres represent a total value of more than $778 million across the province.

The 2019 growing season marks the third year of drought in southern Alberta and excessive moisture in northern Alberta.

“We’ve seen bad harvests in three out of the last four growing seasons,” notes Don Shepert, Alberta Pulse Growers chair. “We can’t control the weather but it’s time for our governments to resolve the political issues that we can control. Not only are we facing trade barriers, but our competitors in the U.S. are receiving their third round of government payouts.”

In addition to calling for a more comprehensive review of trade barriers and BRM programs, Team Alberta is asking for immediate adjustments to AgriStability to increase covered losses starting at 85 per cent of reference margins and for the removal of Reference Margin Limits in time for the 2020 harvest.

Team Alberta is also pressing the federal government for exemption from the carbon tax on all farm fuels used in operations for irrigating and grain drying which has added extensive costs during this difficult harvest. The federal government has already committed to exemptions on marked farm fuel under the carbon pricing backstop which will be applied in Alberta on January 1, 2020.

Remarks made last week in Red Deer by Alberta Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen acknowledging the severity of the harvest situation were encouraging, Team Alberta said. They also noted Dreeshen committed to working with the federal government and his provincial counterparts to improve the suite of BRM programs at upcoming meetings in mid-December.

Team Alberta also says the federal government’s election commitment to enhancing support for BRM programs is a good start.

“This is the kind of uncertainty that’s bigger than farm business cash flow. The weight of these combined challenges starts to threaten farmers’ mental health,” explains Gary Stanford, chair of the Alberta Wheat Commission.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, call the Alberta Mental Health Help Line at 1-877-303-2642 (toll free) or visit www.domore.ag to learn more about the resources available to you.

Conservative MPs from Alberta recently met to address the issues facing farmers brought on by this year’s poor harvest conditions.

“This is a growing crisis that puts the stability and future of our agricultural sector at risk,” said Blaine Calkins, Member of Parliament for Red Deer – Lacombe.

Calkins says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must act quickly to appoint a new cabinet, namely a new federal agriculture minister, to avoid further uncertainty.

Calkins says he and his colleagues have committed to meeting with their provincial counterparts to collaborate on solutions to assist farmers. They are also demanding that the federal government immediately complete the BRM review promised two and a half years ago, make agriculture relief programs more responsive to farmers in need, remove arbitrary boundaries in determining tax relief and benefits, and make Alberta exempt from the carbon tax.

“The financial strain of this developing crisis could jeopardize the financial stability for many farm families and has the potential to impact the mental health of struggling farmers in our communities,” says Calkins. “The federal government must act quickly to respond to the real struggles of impact farm families.”

(With file from Team Alberta, Blaine Calkins media releases)