FCC offers farmers drought relief

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This article was published 28/07/2023 (1177 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Farmers struggling with financial hardship due to drought on the Prairies are getting a bit of relief after Farm Credit Canada announced earlier this week it would offer extra support for them.

Farm Credit Canada will work with its customers to come up with solutions for their operations and will consider deferral of principal payments or other loan payment schedule amendments to reduce financial pressure on producers.

“We’re here to support the agriculture industry, through good times and through challenges,” Shannon Weatherall, the senior vice-president of Prairie operations at FCC, told the Sun.

Loan payment deferrals or payment schedule changes can help customers manage their cash flow as they work through challenges brought on by dry conditions, Weatherall said, adding that both grain producers and livestock producers can take advantage of the changes.

“We know that challenges come up in agriculture, and we want to make sure they have the cash flow to get to next year’s production cycle,” she said.

While parts of Westman have been subject to sudden, violent thunderstorms that included golf ball-sized hail and tornado warnings, like in Oak River and Rivers in June and Neepawa earlier this month, much of the area is currently very dry.

Nearly all of Manitoba is under abnormally dry, moderate drought or severe drought, according to a map on Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s website, save for the most northern and northeastern parts of the province.

A report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on drought conditions earlier this summer states that conditions have remained dry and significantly warmer than normal across south-central and western portions of Manitoba, where some areas only got 40 to 60 per cent of normal precipitation.

Some crops are now at a critical state with extremely dry and hot weather creating adverse conditions. Depending on the area, FCC says quality and yield are expected to be significantly reduced by drought. Subsequently, feed is a major concern for livestock producers, particularly in the dairy and beef sectors.

For many producers, the lack of moisture since June of this year is an extension of multiple years of below-average precipitation. This has also created drought-related pest infestations for some. As a result of these ongoing challenges, FCC says some producers might experience a cash shortfall, especially in the fall and winter months.

Summer conditions in Manitoba are always variable, and producers are always at the mercy of Mother Nature in this way, said Jill Verwey, the president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, Manitoba’s general farm policy organization.

“It varies from corner to corner, and even from quarter to quarter on our farm,” she said.

While cereal grains in some parts of the province have produced “phenomenal” yields this year, a lack of rain is concerning for some crops, Verwey said. The type of precipitation, when it does come, isn’t ideal either, she added.

“Nobody likes two or three inches of rain at one time. It’s pretty hard to work with that amount.”

While July has proven cooler than June, there still hasn’t been much rain in the region, which Verwey — and no doubt other producers — are hoping will change for the rest of the summer.

“Hopefully we can get timely rain in the next number of weeks,” she said. “But having said that, that [dry] month of June has some really big impact on the overall yield potential in the province.”

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