WOTHERSPOON TO MEET AND TOUR WITH LOCAL LEADERS AS DROUGHT CONDITIONS DEEPEN, RENEWS CALL FOR PROVINCIAL SUPPORT FOR FARMERS AND RANCHERS

REGINA – Saskatchewan NDP Deputy Agriculture Shadow Minister Trent Wotherspoon will be travelling to drought-stricken areas of the province this week to hear directly from producers and local leaders about the worsening impact of drought on farm and ranch operations and to tour land that’s been devastate

Wotherspoon will meet with local leaders, officials and producers from five rural municipalities — including the Rural Municipality of Big Stick, which declared a local emergency last month — to hear firsthand about the challenges and see the drought devastation farmers and cattle producers are facing. This is a region that has faced severe drought going on nine years.

“It’s been a month since we called on the Sask. Party government and the federal government to step up with urgent drought relief,” said Wotherspoon. “Since then, conditions have only grown more severe, and the government’s lack of action is putting family farms and ranches at risk.”

Wotherspoon reiterated his call for the provincial and federal governments to:

Establish a drought action committee with leadership from rural municipalities, agricultural groups, and producers to coordinate an urgent response

Fix, strengthen and build responsive business risk management programs, and ensure fairness for livestock producers and cost-sharing from both levels of government

Implement a 10-year deferral on taxes for producers forced to sell breeding stock due to drought — a measure supported by the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association

“Farmers and ranchers are doing everything they can to hold on through these extreme conditions,” said Wotherspoon. “They deserve leadership that steps up in times of crisis.

“What our governments choose to do now could shape the future of so many livelihoods, communities, and an entire region of our province.”

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