Agriculture Emergency in Lakeland
July 29, 2020
Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, PC, MP
Minister of Agriculture
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
1341 Baseline Road
Ottawa, ON K1A 0C5
Dear Minister Bibeau,
I am writing to you today regarding the agricultural crisis in Lakeland. Last year, Lakeland farmers endured the ‘harvest from hell,’ with many farms losing a significant portion of their crops to early snow. The Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) estimates that a minimum of 100,000 acres of planted fields were unharvested. But those who were able to get crops off their fields faced uncertain and reduced
international trade markets, and rail strikes and illegal rail blockades that resulted in late delivery penalties on top of lower commodity prices.
Of course, this spring’s planting season was delayed by the removal of unharvested crops, along with major snow melt and rainfall which has wreaked havoc on local farmers. Five counties in Lakeland have already officially declared Agricultural Emergencies, including Lamont County, St. Paul County, Athabasca County, Smoky Lake County and Thorhild County – that’s more than half of the counties in Lakeland.
There is significant flooding throughout the region which has washed out access roads, washed away seeded acres and, in some cases, outright impeded the ability to seed. Farmers and counties are suffering significant financial impacts as a result. Regions 4 and 5 that fall within Lakeland’s boundaries have been hit particularly hard. The AFSC’s preliminary outline as of June 20, 2020 estimates more than 200,000 acres of cropland in the areas will not produce a fall harvest this year. AFSC representatives note that number is expected to rise significantly as outstanding unseeded acre reports are processed. Jackie Sanden, Product Coordinator with AFSC has stated: “about 80 percent of those acres are in areas where they had unharvested acres from the fall. These same counties are also in the regions which have had a high spring rainfall."
Farmers like Todd Hames, a grain grower and Chair of the Wheat Commission who farms near Marwayne, within Lakeland riding have described the field conditions as “saturated” all the way east to the Saskatchewan border. I have enclosed a drone picture from a Lakeland farmer of his field west of that area to show you the reality of what the producers across this large region are facing.
I recently received a call from a Lamont County farmer that reported that there are approximately 275,000 seedable acres in the County and approximately 35% has been lost due to not being able to seed, or due to being flooded after seeding. That is 96,000 lost acres. If even half of that area incurred input costs prior to flooding at the average of $150/acre (fertilizer, rent, and chemical), that would equate to over $7 million out of the pockets of farmers on top of their major losses of the actual crop income.
Athabasca County declared an agriculture disaster in June, citing the past harvest, current spring flooding, and the adverse affects on their pork and beef export market as a result of the worldwide pandemic with an uncertain timeline for return to normal conditions. Initial reports suggest that canola planting in some northeast areas like the County of Thorhild have already suffered significant damage. Yield losses are expected to range from 25 to 50 percent.
I’m sure you appreciate that COVID-19 has further exasperated an already vulnerable sector that required assistance. For months, my office has received daily calls from local farmers saying that they can not access the relief programs because eligibility requirements do not allow them to qualify for CERB or CEBA. Even with the CEBA changes, most small agriculture producers can not qualify as they do not use business accounts, leaving them with zero assistance.
Local producers are concerned that the agriculture sector is not understood by government. Farm operation use of fuels that are not being exempted from the carbon tax are burdening farmers with major costs, especially because most crops that were harvestable had to be dried. Farmers do not have a choice whether to heat or cool their barns or to dry their grains, and farmers cannot pass along the cost of the carbon tax to their customers.
You have stated farmers in Canada are not receiving a carbon tax exemption because “the impact is a very small percentage of [farm] operation costs.” As you are aware, the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses estimates farmers will pay $14,000 in federal carbon taxes in the first year it applies them. As numerous farmers have provided actual carbon tax bills to the media that contradict your estimates (many by ten times), will you actually speak up to your cabinet colleagues about the disproportionate damage they are causing to Canadian agricultural producers, at the very worst time, and axe the carbon tax on all farm fuels?
Farmers are trying to navigate government programs while facing financial devastation. It is not mere ‘emotions’ when your family watches their once-a-year paycheck freeze on the field, then have that paycheck cut even further because the carbon tax your government hiked increased the cost of drying this already devalued crop. Then, during a pandemic – when other families and small businesses are provided loans
and income stabilization – farmers are blocked for months from accessing these programs.
Minister, this is not good enough. I urge you and your government to do better for Canada’s agriculture sector. I am proud of the agricultural sector in Lakeland, and of the hard work that farmers and producers, their families and their workers, are doing under extreme pressure.
I want to introduce you to agricultural producers in Lakeland – in person or virtually – so that you can hear from them, and directly from the children of farm families whose future on the farm is in jeopardy without tangible support.
What will you and your government actually do to support farmers struggling with agricultural emergencies, and to ensure the short and long-term sustainability of the sector and of rural communities?
Sincerely,
Shannon Stubbs
Member of Parliament for Lakeland
This survey has 3 questions.
July 29, 2020
Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau, PC, MP
Minister of Agriculture
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
1341 Baseline Road
Ottawa, ON K1A 0C5
Dear Minister Bibeau,
I am writing to you today regarding the agricultural crisis in Lakeland. Last year, Lakeland farmers endured the ‘harvest from hell,’ with many farms losing a significant portion of their crops to early snow. The Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) estimates that a minimum of 100,000 acres of planted fields were unharvested. But those who were able to get crops off their fields faced uncertain and reduced
international trade markets, and rail strikes and illegal rail blockades that resulted in late delivery penalties on top of lower commodity prices.
Of course, this spring’s planting season was delayed by the removal of unharvested crops, along with major snow melt and rainfall which has wreaked havoc on local farmers. Five counties in Lakeland have already officially declared Agricultural Emergencies, including Lamont County, St. Paul County, Athabasca County, Smoky Lake County and Thorhild County – that’s more than half of the counties in Lakeland.
There is significant flooding throughout the region which has washed out access roads, washed away seeded acres and, in some cases, outright impeded the ability to seed. Farmers and counties are suffering significant financial impacts as a result. Regions 4 and 5 that fall within Lakeland’s boundaries have been hit particularly hard. The AFSC’s preliminary outline as of June 20, 2020 estimates more than 200,000 acres of cropland in the areas will not produce a fall harvest this year. AFSC representatives note that number is expected to rise significantly as outstanding unseeded acre reports are processed. Jackie Sanden, Product Coordinator with AFSC has stated: “about 80 percent of those acres are in areas where they had unharvested acres from the fall. These same counties are also in the regions which have had a high spring rainfall."
Farmers like Todd Hames, a grain grower and Chair of the Wheat Commission who farms near Marwayne, within Lakeland riding have described the field conditions as “saturated” all the way east to the Saskatchewan border. I have enclosed a drone picture from a Lakeland farmer of his field west of that area to show you the reality of what the producers across this large region are facing.
I recently received a call from a Lamont County farmer that reported that there are approximately 275,000 seedable acres in the County and approximately 35% has been lost due to not being able to seed, or due to being flooded after seeding. That is 96,000 lost acres. If even half of that area incurred input costs prior to flooding at the average of $150/acre (fertilizer, rent, and chemical), that would equate to over $7 million out of the pockets of farmers on top of their major losses of the actual crop income.
Athabasca County declared an agriculture disaster in June, citing the past harvest, current spring flooding, and the adverse affects on their pork and beef export market as a result of the worldwide pandemic with an uncertain timeline for return to normal conditions. Initial reports suggest that canola planting in some northeast areas like the County of Thorhild have already suffered significant damage. Yield losses are expected to range from 25 to 50 percent.
I’m sure you appreciate that COVID-19 has further exasperated an already vulnerable sector that required assistance. For months, my office has received daily calls from local farmers saying that they can not access the relief programs because eligibility requirements do not allow them to qualify for CERB or CEBA. Even with the CEBA changes, most small agriculture producers can not qualify as they do not use business accounts, leaving them with zero assistance.
Local producers are concerned that the agriculture sector is not understood by government. Farm operation use of fuels that are not being exempted from the carbon tax are burdening farmers with major costs, especially because most crops that were harvestable had to be dried. Farmers do not have a choice whether to heat or cool their barns or to dry their grains, and farmers cannot pass along the cost of the carbon tax to their customers.
You have stated farmers in Canada are not receiving a carbon tax exemption because “the impact is a very small percentage of [farm] operation costs.” As you are aware, the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses estimates farmers will pay $14,000 in federal carbon taxes in the first year it applies them. As numerous farmers have provided actual carbon tax bills to the media that contradict your estimates (many by ten times), will you actually speak up to your cabinet colleagues about the disproportionate damage they are causing to Canadian agricultural producers, at the very worst time, and axe the carbon tax on all farm fuels?
Farmers are trying to navigate government programs while facing financial devastation. It is not mere ‘emotions’ when your family watches their once-a-year paycheck freeze on the field, then have that paycheck cut even further because the carbon tax your government hiked increased the cost of drying this already devalued crop. Then, during a pandemic – when other families and small businesses are provided loans
and income stabilization – farmers are blocked for months from accessing these programs.
Minister, this is not good enough. I urge you and your government to do better for Canada’s agriculture sector. I am proud of the agricultural sector in Lakeland, and of the hard work that farmers and producers, their families and their workers, are doing under extreme pressure.
I want to introduce you to agricultural producers in Lakeland – in person or virtually – so that you can hear from them, and directly from the children of farm families whose future on the farm is in jeopardy without tangible support.
What will you and your government actually do to support farmers struggling with agricultural emergencies, and to ensure the short and long-term sustainability of the sector and of rural communities?
Sincerely,
Shannon Stubbs
Member of Parliament for Lakeland