Producers meet in Kindersley to discuss drought

By Joan Janzen

A town hall meeting was held on Tuesday afternoon, July 25, in Kindersley to discuss the drought situation in Saskatchewan. An additional meeting was held at Perdue on Monday, July 24.

Grant McLellan, Chief Executive Officer of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association (SCA), extended a welcome to the group of approximately 75 grain and livestock producers in attendance. Representatives from the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) and Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) were on hand to answer any questions. In addition, a number of reeves from surrounding rural municipalities were present.

Over 75 grain and livestock producers attended a meeting on Tuesday, July 25, at Kindersley to discuss their concerns arising from the drought conditions in the area. Grant McLellan, CEO of SCA, gave a brief presentation. Photo by Joan Janzen

APAS, along with SCA, were encouraging producers to consider a new program. On July 12, SCIC announced plans to double Low Yield Appraisal threshold levels, allowing additional acres of low-yielding cereal, pulse crops, canola and flax to be used as feed. Crop producers who don’t raise livestock were asked to consider converting their insured crops into feed, which neighbouring livestock producers could cut and bale or use for grazing.

McLellan gave a brief presentation on some of the work being done by SCA. They made several requests, requesting early designation of the federal livestock program and forage rainfall insurance coverage be returned to 2022 rates, which is 33 percent higher than today’s rates.

They put forward a consideration requesting the Ag Recovery program and requested expansion of Farm Ranch Water Infrastructure Program (FRWIP). FRWIP helps with costs for dugouts, pipelines and wells.

McLellan presented a list of suggestions for livestock producers. He suggested they get their water tested and reach out to their grain-growing neighbours who may qualify for the new threshold write-off of their crops. It was advised that if you participate in AgriStability you may qualify for the interim benefit option to access a portion of the 2023 benefit. The compensation rate has been increased to 80 percent. He also supplied a list of available resources, including FRWIP, Agriculture Knowledge Centre, Lands Branch and SCIC, in addition to a list of mental health resources.

“In situations like this, we know how difficult and how stressful it is,” McLellan said. Some of the producers in the audience were experiencing drought conditions for the sixth year in a row. This may explain why a producer from Maple Creek observed there’s been a record number of livestock sales in their town.

McLellan invited those in attendance to ask questions. It was noted that if your RM qualifies for a tax deferral, the producer will also qualify because the RM is dried out. Once that’s in place, the money could start to flow right away.

It was asked how funding could be used most efficiently. In response, it was suggested funding go towards areas where low rainfall is recorded.

Throughout the course of the meeting, all kinds of considerations were discussed. “There are definite improvements that can be made,” McLellan said. “In Saskatchewan, we rely on one another. We really need to pull together.”