NO SUPPORT
To the Editor:
Are B.C. cattlemen an endangered species?
While recent increasing global demand for beef has been good news for cattlemen, ranchers in B.C. are being left behind.
The B.C. government seems to be doing everything it can to put us out of business. It tells us agriculture is important but is it? Talk is cheap.
We can only look to the Alberta cattlemen with envy. Every week it seems like they are getting more support from their government, while we get nothing. How are we supposed to compete with Alberta?
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We might look back at this fall as the turning point in grain farm economics — the point where making money became really difficult.
The drought in the Peace Country was as severe in Alberta as it was in B.C. Ranchers in Alberta were given subsidies to help cover transportation costs for hay and cattle; we got nothing.
Alberta cattlemen have their cattle tag costs refunded, we get nothing.
Taxes on fuel are far less in Alberta. The carbon tax alone is costing us 20 cents a litre for diesel on top of near record fuel prices.
This is not even the worst of it. The government has all but turned their backs on crown land applications. Most of the staff looking after range have been laid off.
New applications for range use often take years now. Even though there are thousands of acres of land that are vacant, land suitable for cattle ranching, the government has now made the land almost impossible to access.
This whole country was opened up by homesteaders who cleared the land to raise cattle and grow crops. The government put an end to that.… Agricultural leases and grazing leases are no longer being granted.
The only way one can get Crown land now is to purchase it at fair market value and this is now next to impossible.
The application takes many years and is only granted to a few people every year.
Don’t bother complaining to the minister, they don’t return phone calls or e-mail.
Thinking of becoming a cattle rancher? My advice would be to move to Alberta.
, Cecil Lake, B.C.
