Because of an ongoing heat wave and light snowpack with no-run off, the County of Stettler has declared an agricultural disaster.
In a release Wednesday, county council said due to drought-like conditions, they made the decision to make the declaration. The county is the first municipality to declare an agricultural disaster in Alberta this year, due to drought.
They also plan to encourage the Provincial and Federal Government to initiate programming to assist our agricultural industry and producers.
Relief for the agriculture industry due to drought has not been announced at this time, and according to the release, council will use Wednesday’s declaration to reach out to government to advocate for assistance and support for an agriculture industry battling drought in Alberta.
“We’re seeing exceptionally large numbers of livestock being dispersed at auction marts for this time of year, and producers are contacting us to report they are out of feed, cannot afford feed and looking ahead and realizing at this point that the probability of growing feed to support their operations is very, very slim,” said Larry Clarke, Reeve for the County of Stettler No. 6.
“Agriculture is a very big part of what we do here in Stettler County and of what fuels our economy and lives. We are hearing the pleas from our farmers and producers and we need to take action.”
Quinton Beaumont, Manager of Agricultural Operations added: “The Alberta Government has announced some pasture programs in light of the lack of pasture due to the wildfire situation in our province. While that is not a consideration in our area, we are seeing producers putting herds out into their hay fields, with no other options at hand beyond herd dispersals.”