The Manitoba Cattle Producers Association has asked the provincial government for a per head payment to compensate cattle producers for drowned out hay and pasture land.
MCPA representatives made the request during a meeting with provincial agriculture minister Stan Struthers last week, said Trevor Atchison, who runs a cow-calf operation near Pipestone, Man.
“The number we’ve (proposed) is about 65 percent of the winter feeding cost of a cow…. That allows the producers to pay some (of the costs),” said Atchison, an MCPA district director. “The cost for winter feed is just to offset the loss they’ve had in production on their land.”
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Atchison said the association isn’t releasing an exact per head figure because they don’t want to compromise the process.
“A number was talked about but we’re sort of keeping that under our hat until the time the province announces (its program),” said Atchison.
“(Struthers) assured us there will be something by the end of the month.”
In a government news release, Struthers said the province is monitoring the livestock feed situation and is working with the federal government on programs for cattle producers affected by excess moisture this spring and summer.
“We recognize that some areas of the province continue to experience extreme difficulty in harvesting hay while many other areas are reporting adequate volumes of hay, yet quality has suffered due to excess moisture,” Struthers said. “We are also encouraging producers to take advantage of the province’s hay and straw listing service, which allows us to match the feed with the need.”
On top of the per head payment, the MCPA asked the province to develop a freight assistance program to help cover the cost of hauling feed. The association also proposed a tax deferral for producers forced to sell livestock because of a lack of feed.
Since the middle of July, the MCPA has made the case, in the media and through direct contact with government, that cattle producers deserve the same treatment as grain producers. In early July, the governments of Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Canada announced a $30 per acre program, which compensated grain producers for excess moisture and flooding this spring.
The MCPA has worked with other western cattle organizations, said Audrey Treichel, communication co-ordinator for the association.
“(Alberta cattle producers) are not in the desperate situation that we still find ourselves in. So from what we understand, Alberta isn’t going to be asking anything (of government),” she said. “In Saskatchewan we’ve been in discussions with them…. but we don’t’ know where they are standing with their asks.”
Keith Robertson, chief executive officer of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association, said his group has been lobbying government to compensate cattle producers for flooded pasture and hay land, similar to the financial aid for grain land.
“We’re still pushing to have those included as a crop…. That one we’re still working on.”
