Many Manitoba cattle producers can’t sit back and enjoy profits this fall as market compensation for the hard years since 2003.
Instead, they are working hard to gather the hay and feed they will need to survive another winter.
This summer’s flooding has in-creased frustration levels among farmers in affected areas, says Manitoba Beef Producers general manager Melinda German.
“It’s just been ongoing,” said German, whose organization is asking the provincial government for feed and forage assistance and the federal government for tax deferral for suffering farmers.
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“We’re now at a time when we shouldn’t have to be sourcing feed, but they’re having to go further distances. Prices for hay are going up and so are the prices for transport,” said German.
“Producers are having to make tough decisions about whether to have another year of big feed ex-penses or downsize their herds or get out of the industry altogether.”
Hundreds of Manitoba cattle producers have been affected by flooding that occurred well after the usual spring risk period.
The massive rainstorm that flooded the Assiniboine River and saturated hundreds of kilometres of farmland hit many producers directly.
However, those around Lake Manitoba suffered a delayed effect as the provincial government opened the Portage Diversion to the maximum and caused lake levels to surge once again, submerging thousands of acres of pasture and hayland around the lake.
Other flooded regions exist as well, including the Shoal Lakes area north of Winnipeg, which has had problems with rising water levels for many years.
German said Manitoba cattle producers should be expanding herds and reaping profits as they take advantage of new markets achieved in recent years.
Instead, flooding problems are driving some from the industry.
