Manitoba municipalities last week put their clout behind efforts to get more money into the hands of farmers who were flooded this spring in western Manitoba.
The Association of Manitoba Municipalities passed a resolution at its convention in Brandon calling for money from the province and Ottawa to compensate farmers affected by excess rain in May and June.
More than one million acres of farmland went unseeded in Manitoba because of the flooding.
Howard Edwards, a town councilor from Deloraine, Man., said farmers in his area are bracing themselves for more tough times.
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“I think they’re holding onto whatever little money they have until they see the government come through.”
The Deloraine area saw crop production slashed due to unseeded acres and reduced yields on later seeded crops. Late-seeded wheat fields yielded as low as six bushels per acre, said Jim Holden, councilor for the rural municipality of Winchester.
The Manitoba government this year announced a $50 per acre payment on unseeded acres with part of the money to come through the Agricultural Income Disaster Assistance program. Edwards and Holden regard the $50 per acre as a start, but believe more is needed.
Melita, Man., mayor Ken Carels represents one of the communities worst affected by spring flooding.
A farm implement dealership closed at Melita earlier this year, eliminating more than a dozen jobs. Carels fears more businesses will lay off staff in coming months.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the crunch of this thing yet,” he said, noting the strain will become more evident during winter and next spring, when farmers prepare to plant.
“We need something short term right now for the crisis we’re going to see next spring,” Carels said.
He also wants help for businesses in the flood-affected regions and cited interest-free loans as an example.
He and other AMM delegates used a meeting last week with Manitoba agriculture minister Rosann Wowchuk to press their case.
Carels said a long-term national program is needed to better address the kind of crisis seen this spring.
The Association of Manitoba Municipalities, formed last year through a merger of the Union of Manitoba Municipalities and the Manitoba Association of Urban Municipalities, represents urban and rural municipalities throughout the province.
The resolution passed last week dealt only with the crisis arising from the glut of moisture in western Manitoba. Some delegates said it is important to focus on that because the floods are being overshadowed by the larger problem of a farm income crisis across Western Canada.
