Farmers are watching the SaskPower labor dispute but are not too anxious yet.
“You need power,” said Langham, Sask., dairy farmer Leo Bertoia. “There would be a great concern … if there was a total shutdown.”
SaskPower and one of its unions are fighting over a new contract. Workers are refusing overtime and management has locked out half of the members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
The union says it does not want to strike because that would allow the government to impose arbitration. The crown corporation, which is the monopoly power provider in Saskatchewan, says it is using managers to make up for the work slowdown.
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So far power has continued to reach most of the province, but if a strike or full lockout occurs, many farms could be affected. Hog and chicken barns and dairy farms consume large amounts of power, and not all have reliable back-up generators.
As Bertoia points out, agricultural production can’t just stop because the power goes out.
“Cows aren’t a tap you can turn off and on,” he said.
Cows need to be milked on a regular schedule or they suffer great pain and physical damage. Pigs and chickens need ventilation and cooling, or they can asphyxiate.
