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By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

not even close to enough rain

County of Stettler declares Agricultural Disaster due to drought

Jun 17, 2023 | 2:58 PM

The County of Stettler has declared an Agricultural Disaster due to drought, saying that a lack of spring moisture has left the land stressed entering prime growing season.

Very light snowpack with no run-off combined with the early and extended heat wave and no moisture led council to its declaration at its June 14 meeting.

A review of current conditions looked at empty dugouts and wetlands throughout the region.

Council calls the decision a serious one.

“We’re seeing exceptionally large numbers of livestock being dispersed at auction marts for this time of year, and producers are contacting us to report they are out of feed, cannot afford feed and looking ahead and realizing at this point that the probability of growing feed to support their operations is very, very slim,” said Larry Clarke, Reeve for the County of Stettler No. 6.

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“Agriculture is a very big part of what we do here in Stettler County and of what fuels our economy and lives. We are hearing the pleas from our farmers and producers and we need to take action.”

Meantime, the County is encouraging the provincial and federal government to initiate programming to assist our agricultural industry and producers.

Relief for the agriculture industry due to drought has not been announced at this time, the County adds.

“The Alberta Government has announced some pasture programs in light of the lack of pasture due to the wildfire situation in our province,” says Quinton Beaumont, manager, Agricultural Operations. “While that is not a consideration in our area, we are seeing producers putting herds out into their hay fields, with no other options at hand beyond herd dispersals.”

The County of Stettler notes it is the first municipality to declare an Agricultural Disaster in the province of Alberta this year, due to drought.

The County of Stettler declared similar disasters in 2021 and 2018.