Lac Ste. Anne County Issues State of Agricultural Disaster
The snowy, cold and wet conditions Alberta has seen over the past month has wrecked havoc on farmers throughout the province.
On October 11th, Lac Ste. Anne County Council declared a State of Agricultural Disaster within the county, due to a dire feed shortage amongst livestock producers, and a low inventory of harvested crops.
Council made the declaration to make the Provincial and Federal Governments aware and to encourage them to initiate the programming necessary to assist agricultural producers.
Lac Ste. Anne County Agricultural Services Manager, Aren Skogstad on what they expect from the government.
Skogstad says they will see a feed shortage around the region, as many crops are flat and wet and still on fields waiting to be harvested, and could potentially delay the start to next season.
Only 15.7 percent of crops within the region were combined as of October 2, which is significantly lower than the 5 year average of 62 percent.
With warm, dry conditions returning this week, it is expected that farmers will be out on the fields trying to get the remaining crops harvested.
Story written by: Erika Chorostil