Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister says he needs more information before he can consider providing more money to livestock producers.
Bob Bjornerud said he would meet with cattle producers this week to discuss the state of their industry and Alberta’s June 5 announcement of $300 million to help its producers.
The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan has since challenged Bjornerud to follow Alberta’s lead, saying the province’s producers need to be on a level playing field with their western neighbour.
However, Bjornerud said his first concern is whether the Alberta program could lead to countervail action from the United States.
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He is also concerned about how Alberta has tied half the money to mandatory age verification and premises identification.
He likened the process to the federal gun control registry and how its costs spiraled.
“Is the benefit at the end going to outweigh the cost?” he said in an interview.
Bjornerud said cattle producers have never told him they want mandatory age verification.
APAS urged the government to “live up to their commitments to rural Saskatchewan” by providing assistance beyond the loan program implemented soon after the Saskatchewan Party took office last November.
APAS president Glenn Blakley said 40 percent of producers could be lost if the government doesn’t step in to help them.
Last week the province announced that 90,000 acres of fish and wildlife development land would be opened to grazing from June 15 to Sept. 15 to help southern producers affected by drought.
The land is bought with money from fishing and hunting licences and managed to maintain or improve wildlife habitat.
Producers will have to build temporary fencing and water supplies that are required.
Those interested should contact their environment ministry office or visit www.environment.gov.sk.ca.
Beyond that, Bjornerud said he would wait until after the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association annual meeting this week to receive more feedback from producers on mandatory age verification and what other assistance might be needed.
He said it’s always the cow-calf producers who are stuck paying in the end.
Alberta went ahead and announced a program on its own when it might have been better to have a national cost-shared program, he added.
