Cattle in field (The Canadian Press)

By Connor Gunn

Providing Relief

Alberta providing $136 million to drought-stricken livestock producers

Aug 6, 2021 | 3:18 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Livestock producers across Alberta are able to access millions of dollars in financial relief and will benefit from new rangeland initiatives that will improve access to water grazing.

$136 million is available under the AgriRecovery program, a joint program between the governments of Alberta and Canada.

The province has also asked for an additional $204 million for a total relief package of $340 million.

“The federal government is currently evaluating this request and earlier today announced $100 million in immediate relief for Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Alberta. Programming costs are split 60-40 between the provincial and federal governments,” the release reads.

This funding is set to help out thousands of beef producers and all ranchers as a whole. It will give financial support and immediate cash flow for Alberta’s livestock producers and beekeepers to purchase feed, water and fencing, if approved.

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Dr. Melanie Wowk, Chair of the Alberta Beef Producers says this announcement by the government will be very helpful moving forward.

“Alberta Beef Producers has worked closely with the Government of Alberta to deliver on the needs of farmers and ranchers through this agricultural disaster. We appreciate the immediate response and swift action to provide aid to Alberta’s beef industry.”

In addition, Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) has outlined the following programs:

• Applications can be made from existing grazing disposition holders, including leases, licences, and permits, with additional grazing capacity to allow livestock from producers who are in need of additional feed.
• Applications for temporary grazing or haying will be accepted on vacant public lands.
• Permitting grazers will be eligible to extend time in the forest reserve where there is sufficient forage.

“The AgriRecovery falls under the joint federal-provincial Canadian Agricultural Partnership. It is designed to cover extraordinary costs not covered by existing business risk management programs, such as those incurred due to extreme drought conditions or other natural disasters,” the release states.

Application details will be unveiled after the federal government reviews the proposal.

Meantime, NDP Agriculture critic Heather Sweet issued the following statement in response to the premier’s agriculture announcement:

“Alberta producers facing a challenging season have been advocating for practical and strong policy responses to this drought for weeks already. The UCP simply took too long to act. Now, as ranchers decide how much of their herd to cull, they will be forced to wait for financial assistance as less than half of the announced money will flow immediately.

“The UCP needs to ensure this funding is administered and delivered into the hands of producers as soon as possible, avoiding the same mistakes of the broken support programs they launched throughout this pandemic. I will be touring central and southern Alberta next week to hear directly from producers about what they need from the government and I look forward to presenting more ideas to help producers in the days ahead.”

(With files from rdnewsNOW)