Ranchers and farmers from southwestern Saskatchewan say their pleas for government aid to help them rebound from two consecutive years of drought are being ignored.
Twenty-one rural municipalities have declared themselves disaster areas and affected farmers want assistance, just as those in the flooded northeast region of the province got help when they needed it.
The Saskatchewan government provided an unseeded acreage benefit to flooded farmers of $10 an acre, while Ottawa added $15 per acre, on top of crop insurance benefits that were available.
As well, flooded farmers in the Interlake region of Manitoba received $680,000 from their provincial government last week.
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“We’re only asking for fairness,” said Doug Davidson, who farms near Ponteix, Sask., and speaks for the Southwest Drought Disaster Committee.
Last week, committee representatives drove through a severe winter storm to get to the legislature where their case was raised during Question Period.
They then had a brief meeting with agriculture minister Mark Wartman, who has repeatedly said there will be no ad hoc funding for producers in that area.
Davidson said the committee has data to back up its request. It surveyed about 400 producers and others involved in agriculture to find out how widespread and severe the drought has been.
He told reporters there hasn’t been enough precipitation since harvest ended to substantially improve conditions.
“As far as change in our situation, yes, it’s progressing – it’s getting worse,” he said.
Davidson said farmers can’t pay their bills and will have to come up with money to buy feed.
The committee wants a meeting with the Farm Support Review Committee, which provides advice to Wartman and was instrumental in obtaining the flood assistance.
However, the minister said that committee is not designed to meet with lobby groups and the southwest group is better off to meet with him.
In the legislature, Wartman said he has asked his federal counterpart, Chuck Strahl, to consider piloting the new federal disaster program in southwestern Saskatchewan.
“We would be able to analyze whether or not it’s going to be effective as a disaster program and provide the support that’s needed.”
In the meantime, Wartman said producers should consider applying for an interim payment from the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization program to get them through.
Crop insurance is also in place, he said, and the review committee is advising him on how it could be changed to make it more responsive, particularly in the southwest.
Davidson said insurance no longer gets farmers through the sporadic droughts that occur in the region.
“What (drought has) done has deteriorated our crop insurance to the point where we can’t obtain the coverage, the crop insurance program has been gutted, and these are the programs that would get us through droughts in the past,” he said.
“So we can’t sustain back to back droughts and we don’t have a vehicle to deal with it. This is why we’re seeking ad hoc support.”
Davidson said cattle producers are facing costs of $100 to $300 per cow, based on dry cows going to market, extra feed and hauling water.
The group had planned to take their case for drought assistance to the steps of the legislature in Regina Dec. 5, after Western Producer deadlines for this issue, to protest what it called the unsatisfactory government response.
