Edmonton Journal | By Jim Farrell | July 18, 2002
Admitting it's not enough, but stressing that money can't replace rain, Alberta's agriculture minister gave $324 million in emergency drought relief to the province's farmers and cattle producers Wednesday.
"I can't make it rain," Shirley McClellan said during a press conference in Wainwright.
"I would have done it a long time ago if I could."
Farmers, cattle producers and even beekeepers may be receiving cheques within two weeks, McClellan said. Wednesday morning, even before McClellan walked up to the microphone, application forms were being mailed out. The forms are based on the Farm Income Assistance Program applications, which farmers sent in last year to receive drought assistance. "All they have to do is check off some boxes and mail them back," McClellan explained.
The new program is called Farm Assistance Program 2002. Because it's intended to get money to distressed cattle producers as quickly as possible, it's not perfect, McClellan conceded.
Hopefully, it's enough to convince producers not to sell all their breeding stock, she said. If they do that, it could be many years before Alberta's cattle industry recovers to pre-drought levels.
"Some of these families have spent generations building up their herds," said McClellan.
The program will provide a maximum of $100,000 to a producer for cultivated forage land and for grain and canola fields.
Every Alberta farmer who applies will collect $7.15 for each acre of cultivated crop land and $10 per acre for cultivated forage land where they've attempted to grow hay and other forage crops for cattle.
Each acre of fenced-off, natural grazing land is worth $4 in drought relief payments.
Farmers won't be told how to spend the money, McClellan said. Hopefully, they will use it on feed and forage so they can hold onto their breeding herds.
"The message to producers is to 'hang in there,' " McClellan said.
Other provincial programs assisting farmers include crop insurance, pasture and water programs, a grasshopper program and -- for farmers who endure several years of disastrous conditions -- low-interest loan assistance.
"We appreciate the government saying this is an important industry," Wainwright-area cattle producer Henry Hayes said after listening to McClellan.
"We appreciate the money," Hayes said. "Some details are not what we would like, but it's a
realistic program and it had to be done quickly."
Under the program, an acre of carefully cultivated forage land will receive the same payment as an acre of low-producing land. Fine-tuning the program to discriminate on the basis of farmers' input and potential production would delay payments for months, Hayes said.
The drought, which has persisted throughout the winter, spring and summer, has affected almost everyone who lives off the land, McClellan said. Because flowering plants either failed to blossom or quickly lost their petals, bees haven't been able to collect sufficient supplies of nectar and pollen and honey production is down. Honey producers can apply for $4.50 in drought relief for each hive.
Production in Alberta greenhouses has also suffered because of plus-30-degree temperatures and relentless sunshine. Greenhouse operators can apply for a grant of 20 cents for every square foot of covered crops.
Dry conditions last winter and a late, cold spring ravaged perennial horticultural crops such as raspberries and strawberries. Growers can apply for a grant of $100 per acre.
The drought dwarfs anything in living memory, McClellan said. "This is the worst dry spell in 125 years."
While the most immediate threat is to Alberta's $5-billion cattle industry, all sectors of the agricultural industry will suffer, said Bob Barss, reeve of the Municipal District of Wainwright, the area that might earn the dubious distinction as the drought capital of Alberta.
"Equipment dealers are laying off, fertilizer companies are laying off, Agricorp is laying off, everyone connected with agriculture is affected. There's simply not enough money and not enough feed to fix this problem," said Barss, who is trying to maintain a herd of 100 cows.
As Alberta cattle producers run low on forage and auction their breeding cows, a series of shocks spread through Alberta's economy, said John Knapp, director of rural services for Alberta Agriculture. Because of the sales, many cattle producers will face large tax bills at the end of the year, even though they will have little or no income next year.
"The federal government has said they are finalizing tax deferrals," Knapp said.
The deferrals will allow the cattle producers to average-out their taxable income. That will prove a godsend if producers use this year's income to buy back herds next year.
Another side-effect is a surge in Alberta's meat-packing business. That's not a good thing, McClellan said. It will bring slow times next year as fewer cattle are available for the slaughter houses.
Wednesday's disaster relief package is separate from the $150 million in federal money and $90 million in provincial money recently committed to help Alberta farmers work towards long-term solutions under the Agricultural Policy Framework. That money won't be available until November or December, McClellan said. "We have some wrinkles to work out."
New Democrat MLA Brian Mason slammed the government for capping the aid at $500,000 per component for corporations, while farmers will have to settle for a maximum of $100,000.
"The government has created a two-tier benefit plan that favours agribusiness over smaller operations," he said. "Why do corporations rate five times better than family farmers?"
The provincial funding could have gone further, Mason said, had the Conservatives targeted relief to smaller individual and family farms.
GRAPHIC: Colour Photo: Jim Farrell, The Journal; Alberta Agriculture Minister Shirley McClellan talks about the drought with Wainwright Municipal District Reeve Bob Barss in a devastated field near Wainwright on Wednesday.Edmonton Journal:
