Weather forecasters say a second straight year of drought is possible
but Saskatchewan farmers may have a tougher time getting the federal
government to help pay for dugouts and wells.
The Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration is changing
Saskatchewan’s Rural Water Development Program, which may make it
harder for farmers to get financial assistance for such projects.
Program administrators say the main change is that there is now an
April 1 deadline to file project proposal and application forms. In the
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
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
past there was no cut-off date.
Perhaps a more significant change for farmers is the shift in funding
priorities at the agency. Increased emphasis will be placed on water
development proposals that stress research and extension work.
“The program is moving towards more activity in strategic initiatives
that will address water constraints on a broader basis,” said Jill
Vaisey, acting director of the PFRA’s south Saskatchewan region.
If more money is spent on broader projects, a smaller portion of the
$2.2 million in annual funding for Saskatchewan water projects will be
spent on dugouts, small dams, wells, pipelines, livestock watering
systems and tank-loading facilities.
That doesn’t sit well with the province’s farmers.
“The whole world is about studies and about research. Dammit, we need
water,” said Terry Hildebrandt, president of Agricultural Producers
Association of Saskatchewan.
He said that because of last year’s drought, the PFRA’s main spending
priority should be finding water for livestock use. This is not the
time to be spending government money on more research, he added.
PFRA’s water program has two sides:
- It helped fund 1,100 projects in Saskatchewan in 2001. Farmers,
ranchers, conservation groups, rural municipalities and agribusinesses
are eligible for assistance.
Rural residents can apply for PFRA to pay one-third of the eligible
costs of infrastructure projects such as wells and dams.
- PFRA pays up to 75 percent of eligible costs of strategic initiatives
such as regional water studies, applied research and information
extension activities. This is the side the PFRA wants to encourage.
Written approval from the PFRA must be obtained before starting
proposed projects for which funding is requested. Proposals must
address a series of criteria, including meeting at least one of four
program objectives:
- Alleviate water-related constraints to the viability of rural
agriculture.
- Aid development, expansion and diversification of agricultural
operations.
- Enhance opportunities for rural agribusiness and value-added
enterprises.
- Encourage the implementation of sustainable practices in the
development and protection of water resources.
Vaisey stressed that just because priorities are shifting toward
research projects doesn’t mean farmers and ranchers won’t be able to
get financial help to build wells, dugouts and livestock watering
systems.
But Hildebrandt thinks infrastructure projects should be the sole focus
of the program.
“We need PFRA dollars today to source water,” Hildebrandt said.
“That is the bottom line.”
