Farmers ask feds to evaluate drought

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has asked federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz for a formal assessment of the drought affecting the Prairie provinces.

"On behalf of the National Farmers Union, I am making the formal request for the federal government to initiate an assessment," stated NFU president Stewart Wells.

The union says current drought conditions on the Prairies are serious enough for an assessment to take place under the federal AgriRecovery framework. AgriRecovery, the NFU explained, contains a passage that says the federal government may initiate an assessment under circumstances where an event is national in scope and a request for an assessment has been made by a national organization.

"For many farm families, the determining factor for whether they will be able to continue farming will be the adequacy and the timeliness of your government's response under the AgriRecovery framework," Wells wrote in a letter to the minister.

Wells also called Monday for the federal government to "move with unprecedented swiftness to craft an AgriRecovery program that delivers funds rapidly," and cover the full cost of the disaster assistance.

The AgriRecovery program is among a new suite of business risk management programs under the federal Growing Forward framework. According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, AgriRecovery allows federal and provincial governments to jointly respond to natural disasters with quick, targeted assistance.

In response to the NFU's call for a formal assessment, Ritz, in a telephone interview from Ottawa, said the government will implement AgriRecovery on a regional basis should the need arise.

"We're ready to do that," Ritz said of implementing AgriRecovery. "I've been talking to my provincial colleagues -- their offices and my offices are constantly in touch and on top of this situation. So we're ready to go, the money is in place and we're ready to apply it."

The minister said relief programs are already in place to help crop and livestock producers cope with drought. Recent changes to provincial crop insurance have been made to assist producers, he said.

Despite other measures, AgriRecovery will likely be implemented in the Prairies this year, Ritz said.

"If it's required, it will be there," he said.

The timing of the implementation of AgriRecovery will depend on weather conditions throughout the remaining growing season, he said.

According to a Canadian Wheat Board bulletin released Monday, scattered moderate to heavy rain fell in the dry areas of central Alberta last week; however, the rainfall occurred too late to significantly improve crop conditions. Moderate to heavy rains in northern Alberta and northern Saskatchewan last week helped to maintain crop conditions, while the weather remained dry in southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and most of Manitoba.

In Saskatchewan, the west-central portion of the province -- including the areas around Kindersley and Rosetown -- is experiencing the worst of the drought.

Ritz is meeting with provincial and territorial agriculture ministers in Ottawa later this week where discussions are expected to turn to drought relief for the Prairies.