Big Stick and several neighbouring rural municipalities in the southwest declared states of emergency this season after nine years of consecutive drought.
Saskatchewan NDP Deputy Agriculture Shadow Minister Trent Wotherspoon and Municipal Affairs Shadow Minister Erika Ritchie met with several municipalities and producers scorched by the unprecedented drought and toured the devastation.
They said that the message was loud and clear, that although the federal and provincial governments have made some improvements to the AgriStability program, the supports available don’t respond to the severity of drought that the region is experiencing.
“We’re really into an unprecedented crisis at this point in this region,” Wotherspoon said. “The devastation and loss as a result of a nine-year drought is hard to fathom — you almost have to see the damage to believe it.”
The Saskatchewan NDP reiterated calls for a Drought Action Committee – a joint committee that would involve impacted producers and focus on strengthening business risk management programs and emergency measures that address the unique situation that these producers are in after nine years of consecutive drought.
They also continued to call for a 10-year deferral on taxes for livestock producers forced to sell breeding stock due to drought.
“We have got some rain in the past few weeks but our situation hasn’t changed — poor crops, low crop insurance coverage and no new financial support to help struggling producers,” said Tyson Jacksteit, RM Councillor for Big Stick and producer.
“Changes to AgriStability are nice to announce if you want to look like you’re doing something for our region, but it doesn’t come close to fixing the problems we’re facing. It's a way of the government pretending to do something when they’re not doing anything.”
"This is about our future,” Ritchie said. “These producers are the very backbone of the Saskatchewan economy, and their farms have been proudly built by families for generations.
“We need to have their backs now so they can make it through and keep driving our economy forward and delivering the world-class agricultural products that Saskatchewan is known for.”
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