NDP’s Ryan Meili and Trent Wotherspoon call on province, feds to help farmers

After little to no rainfall during the late spring and so far this summer farmers, producers and ranchers are suffering, and the devastation across the province has to be seen to be believed.

That, from Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili and Agriculture Critic Trent Wotherspoon. Both say they recently spent time touring farms in the southern part of the province, and what they experienced was heartbreaking.

The two have penned a letter to both Premier Scott Moe and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking for an immediate aid package.

“This is a crisis that Canada needs to recognize, that the province needs to recognize and the solutions need to be found with producers and ranchers here in Saskatchewan to ensure access to feed, access to water and the supports in place to weather this incredibly terrible challenge,” Wotherspoon said.

The letter calls on both level of governments to develop a meaningful aid program and that  producer groups are “ready to lead the way.” Meili believes the drought conditions this year are even worse than those the province experienced in 1988, which reportedly cost the province around $4 billion, and was at the time, the hottest summer on record.

“We talked to a producer with 2,000 acres in the ground and he’s not gonna move his combine this year. He’s not going to be using a single one of those … and in fact he’s talking to his neighbours about having them come graze the plants that have grown because that’s all they’re useful for,” Meili said.

In a letter written back to the NDP leader and Wotherspoon, provincial Agriculture Minister Davit Marit says he’s not sure exactly what’s being requested, adding that program changes for producers were announced over a week ago.

“Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) has made changes to allow low yielding crops to be cut for feed immediately,” the letter reads.

“In response to the feed shortage this year, SCIC is doubling the Low Yield Appraisal threshold values for customers who salvage their cereal or pulse crops as feed without negatively impacting future individual coverage.”

Marit also writes that they’ve made changes to temporarily increase the maximum finding a livestock producer can get from the Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program. He said they’re also working with the federal government to explore more options.

Still, Meili and Wotherspoon say many farmers and producers are in a desperate situation after years of similar conditions.

“This is year four of drought. You get one bad year, maybe you can make it through, but year after year, and all the moisture reserves are gone and all the financial reserves are gone — people are in really dire straits.”