WESTLOCK – Although Westlock County’s ag services director says 25 to 50 per cent of local crops are ‘poor’, that percentage will need to be higher before the municipality contemplates declaring a Municipal State of Agricultural Disaster similar to what Sturgeon County did late last month.
At the county’s Aug. 10 regular council meeting, agriculture and environmental services manager Jacolyn Tigert told councillors they’ve been monitoring crops across the municipality and although the news isn’t great, quality, or lack thereof, comes down to location and what’s being grown. Tigert went on to state that declaring a municipal state of disaster simply creates awareness and doesn’t automatically qualify the municipality, or its farmers, for any additional provincial or federal funding.
“We have been out and we have been monitoring and we have been walking the fields. We’re checking the heads, we’re checking for what is the size of the head, what is the filling of those heads, what is the pod development and how the seeds are looking in those pods,” Tigert told council.
“We’re looking at our pastures, is there any re-growth coming and what does the hay look like? If guys did an early first cut they may be getting a fairly decent second cut and if they did a late first cut there might not be a lot there.”
Tiggert said they use the 12-page Rural Municipalities of Alberta Guide For Declaring Municipal Agricultural Disasters to lead their decision-making process, as well as crop data available through the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation. The guide, which was developed in collaboration with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry and AFSC, is “intended to promote a consistent mechanism for data collection and monitoring to support municipal decision making and to guide the communication process when considering agricultural disaster declarations.”
Ultimately, the guide states that if 25 to 50 per cent of crops are rated poor that’s a “pending disaster”, while a “definite disaster” is when more than 50 per cent of crops are poor.
“In my opinion we’re sitting at pending disaster,” Tiggert told council. “So, it’s really important that we’re out there looking and it’s really important that we’re talking to our producers and producer groups. We will be bringing more information forward as it comes up.”
Added reeve Jared Stitsen: “That’s very informative. A lot of people have been asking the question.”
Tiggert said they’ve also been talking to neighbouring municipalities to see what they’re doing and it’s all over the map. While Sturgeon County councillors voted unanimously to declare a Municipal State of Agricultural Disaster July 23 following a recommendation from that county’s Agricultural Service Board, many others are standing pat. Tiggert said there’s no rush to make a declaration.
“It can go into the fall for sure. I have been speaking with our neighbours — Barrhead is thinking about declaring, but they’re not going to make their decision until after harvest. Athabasca is also in the same position and Thorhild is the same. Sturgeon has declared, as have Lac Ste. Anne and there’s probably over 20 municipalities in the province who have declared,” she said.
“Most of them are south — those crops are so bad. And some in the Peace (region) and then there are a few in our area, like Brazeau. But right in our pocket here we’re not as bad.”
