Sask. Farmers, NDP push for drought relief as province outlines new supports
As severe drought grips parts of Saskatchewan for a ninth straight year, farmers say time is running out for meaningful help and warn some operations may not survive without immediate action.
“We’re going to be losing anywhere from $50 an acre up to $100 an acre, and maybe even more,” said Quinton Jacksteit, reeve of the Rural Municipality of Big Stick, who recently met with provincial officials. “When you multiply that by the size of the farms nowadays, we’re not talking chump change. That’s a lot of money. I don’t know if they’re going to be able to survive another year like that.”
After the meeting, Jacksteit and other farmers handed the Saskatchewan Party government a list of demands, including reforms to crop insurance rules so farmers can harvest low-yield crops for seed without losing insurance payouts.
“We bought a farm insurance program, not a livestock insurance program,” Jacksteit said. “So if they write it off below five bushels an acre, why can’t we go out there with our combines and try and scrounge up a little bit of seed without that coming off of what they owe us for a crop insurance program? What’s the difference between the two?”