Local farmers are now playing a waiting game to see if the provincial and federal governments will provide relief for the losses suffered through floods.
County councillors voted in favour of the declaration on July 19. The declaration means the County was to write letters to both the federal and provincial governments to inform them the County has made this declaration, and discuss damages that have occurred due to the flooding of the Athabasca and Paddle rivers, downstream of the Paddle River Dam, into agricultural and pasture areas.
County CAO Mark Oberg explained it is a step taken to encourage both levels of government to create a relief program for the agricultural producers. Letters were sent to Premier Ed Stelmach, as well as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Jack Hayden, Minister of Environment Rob Renner, Minister of Municipal Affairs Hector Goudreau, Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock MLA Ken Kowalski, Yellowhead MP Robert Merrifield and Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Gerry Ritz.
Oberg said the County has received a letter from Kowalski indicating that discussions are taking place at both levels of government about a relief program for those affected by the floods. The provincial and federal governments are conducting an assessment for what they call AgriRecovery for specific and extraordinary events not adequately covered by existing risk management programs such as AgriStability (a farm income stabilization program) and Agri-insurance (or crop insurance). As of last week, no decision had been made in this situation.
This relief program would be funded 60 per cent by the federal government and 40 per cent by the provincial government, and they have to come to an agreement, Oberg said.
“We’ve been told there will be a decision made quite quickly.”
Similar programs have been put in place in the past, he said. For example, the government last year put in place an excess moisture program.
“We’re hopeful, but it’s up to the governments to put it in place,” Oberg said. “All we can do at this point is continue to encourage them to do it.”
The water levels are down now, he added, but Barr-head residents may have noticed an odour in the air, and that’s due to all the silt and the rotting vegetation. The County has received a great deal of press coverage since it declared an agricultural emergency, which can only help in the county’s effort to encourage the government.
“They watch the news, too, and everyone knows what’s going in the County,” he said.
Local farmer Joe Olson is among the many other farmers who will be struggling to get by because of the damages accrued by the flooding. He said at one point, the water on his property was five feet deep, and it rose above his fence posts.
Olson said he is out $200,000 worth of crops, and there is no provision in crop insurance that covers flooding. He said he’s out 100 head of pasture, and he lost 78 acres of hay. In total, Olson said he lost between 500 and 600 acres of ground.
“Crop insurance states that I would have to lose a minimum of 30 per cent of my crop,” he said. “I crop 2,300 acres and about 1,000 acres of hay. I won’t be over that 30 per cent, but it’s still an enormous impact.”
Struggle will be a key word in his vocabulary this year, and many of his neighbours are in the same situation.
“I will try and get off what I can,” he said. “The grain is a huge loss, but my biggest concern today is pasture – I’m struggling for pasture. I had roughly at any given time up to 100 head of cattle on the flats, so now I’ve had to move them to other ground, and I’m running out of grass. Normally I would hay the flat, and the grass would come back again, but I am not able to do that.”
Olson said he is disappointed in the way Kowalski is dealing with the situation. Kowalski told the Leader in an interview several weeks ago that “there is some agricultural land that is flooded, but those are individual cases, not County cases, and there is insurance for that in place.”
“Quite frankly, I think he needs to get his facts straight,” Olson said. “The County has been really good, and I know they are doing their best to lobby the governments, but I’m just not satisfied with what our MLA has to say about it.”
Kowalski wants to assure area farmers that the government is working on a solution to the problem, and that he fully understands what producers are going through.
The loss of Olson’s crops means he is going to be feeding early this year, because he is going to run out of grass early, and winter feed is expensive.
“It’s far more expensive than having pasture,” he said.
Olson said he anxiously awaits an answer about a relief program.
