Woodlands County is the latest municipality to declare a state of agricultural disaster.
County officials say the declaration has been made to help draw attention to the dire situation of area farmers.
Some of the reasons for making the declaration include that while the crops are of good quality, they are of a much smaller yield than usual. Forage crops are also not doing well, according to County officials, with hay crops well below 50 per cent of yield due to the recent hot, dry summer.
Speaking at the County’s Sept. 21 meeting, councillor Dale Kluin said that cattle producers are not doing very well and are being forced to sell their cattle three months earlier than usual.
“Every Thursday, calves going through the auction mart that normally would be selling in that five to six to seven hundred pound range, these baby calves are going through at 250 to 300 pounds,” said Kluin.
While the declaration was made, councillor Dale McQueen admitted it is nothing more than a symbolic gesture.
“There was producers asking what is going to happen, and I said, ‘Well, you will not probably see anything from the province or the feds. We will declare it, and that is that, except it brings light to our situation.’ Maybe down the road, maybe, maybe, there will be something more,” said McQueen.
McQueen also added, there usually comes some direction from the federal and provincial governments as to what programs farmers can apply to.
