The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) welcomes the announcement that the federal government is investing $100 million into the AgriRecovery program to help Saskatchewan ranchers and farmers faced with extraordinary expenses and loss of breeding herds because of this year’s extreme drought conditions.
“This drought has resulted in unprecedented losses for producers in Saskatchewan,” APAS President Todd Lewis said. “It’s going to take years for some farms to financially recover from this year, but also to build up their breeding herd that had to be sold because of lack of feed. Any additional money going to help this struggling sector is appreciated.”
On July 30, APAS sent a letter to federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau, requesting her government address the situation many Saskatchewan farmers are facing by investing in the AgriRecovery program.
“I just hope the assessments are completed reasonably fast as producers have bills, employees to pay, and a mountain of unexpected costs from this year,” Lewis said. “We look forward to working with both levels of the Government of Canada and Saskatchewan to get this money into the hands of producers and ensure we have a breeding herd in the coming years.”
APAS is also encouraged that the federal government has included the entire province of Saskatchewan in the Livestock Tax Deferral program to ensure producers have options when it comes to protecting their livelihoods, but would still like to see longer-term deferrals and eligibility expanded to include all classes of livestock
“Farmers and ranchers are facing a lot of tough decisions right now, and it’s important they have choices when it comes to the future of their farms,” Lewis said.
Read the full press release here.
