Like most cattle producers in southwestern Saskatchewan, Larry Grant is short of water.
He’s hauling water to some cows, pumping water for others and hoping for rain to recharge dugouts.
He has also been working on how $6 million in government money can best be used to get more water to the region’s farmers and ranchers.
The Val Marie rancher, along with Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities president David Marit and SARM director Doug Steele, sat on the producer advisory committee that helped the province design the Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program.
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“There’s a lot of cattle producers down there that are contemplating selling their cow herds because of lack of water,” Grant said, referring to the region where he runs about 300 cows.
“It gives them hope. I think they’re going to step up to the plate and do this.”
The situation is urgent.
The area is entering its fourth year of drought. Promised precipitation never seems to amount to much.
“We’ve only got one water hole on our whole ranch that we will be able to turn cattle into unless we get a lot of moisture,” Grant said.
He is using troughs and pumps to more efficiently use the little water remaining in dugouts.
“If you can pump it to a trough you can water a lot of cattle. If you let them into it there’s only two days water there.”
He believes producers are going to look mainly at pasture pipelines to maintain their herds.
Grant said he’s lucky because he has access to ground water that can be tapped.
Bob Craft, who owns AMA Drilling in Swift Current, Sask., said farmers and ranchers who want wells may have to wait about three weeks.
Most phone calls he’s receiving focus on price.
He said a 30-inch diameter, 50-foot shallow well will cost about $8,000, compared to about half that 10 years ago and as little as $2,400 at one time.
“Everybody’s short of cash right now,” Craft said. “And everything has gone up.”
However, the committee said farmers and ranchers also recognize they have to do something. Marit said most cattle producers don’t want to get out of the business but they need long-term water supply.
They are “ready to put their money where their mouth is,” he said.
