‘A challenging year’: Westlock joins several counties in declaring agricultural disaster

Farmers and officials in Westlock County are asking for help from federal and provincial governments because of drought and grasshopper infestation.

In the wake of prolonged Albertan droughts, a county about an hour north of Edmonton has been added to the list of municipalities declaring an agricultural disaster.

• Download the CTV News App for breaking news alerts on all the top Edmonton stories

“Usually we have three, four, five inches of rain in June and July, and in this area we’ve had three-tenths,” said Westlock County’s Deputy Reeve Raymond Marquette in an interview Thursday.

On Tuesday, the farm-based region of approximately 7,500 joined seven other areas in declaring an agricultural emergency.

Marquette, who also works in farming, said it’s because production in the fields is dwindling compared to last year as low precipitation ravages crops. Yields are estimated to be down anywhere between 30 to 50 per cent in some areas.

Less rain means less grass growth, making it difficult for farmers to feed their cattle, which means they have to make tough choices, Marquette explained.

“Some might have to sell [their cattle], or they’re going to have to try to find feed,” he said, which can get expensive quickly.

Agricultural services co-ordinator for the county, Kendra Kozdroski, said dry weather has also led to an infestation of grasshoppers that wreak havoc on farmers and suburbanites alike.

She said invasive species had time to produce a lot of eggs in the fall, hatched and are now eating the heads of crops.

“They really started to amplify,” Kozdroski said.

In light of this, the provincial Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation has introduced a low yield allowance for 2025, meaning farmers are allowed to salvage what crops they can to feed livestock early on in the hopes of offsetting lost costs.

“We know this has been a challenging year for many producers and we are aware that a number of municipalities have declared an agricultural state of disaster,” said a spokesperson for the ministry in an emailed statement.

“We continue to monitor the situation.”

‘A trickle-down effect’

Marquette can remember the last time he lived through a state of agricultural disaster in the county – about two decades ago.

Westlock Coun. Isaac Skuban was only five years old at the time, but said he recognizes very well that advocating for farmers is paramount to preserving the local economy.

“It’s to bring more awareness to the situation going on, in conjunction with other counties doing it as well. It helps unite and advocate for provincial and even federal support,” Skuban said.

Support, he said, that could include but are not limited to tax deferrals, incentives or grants for farmers.

“Westlock is definitely agriculturally-based … so this is really the economy. And it’s a trickle-down effect with multiple businesses,” Skuban said.

In the meantime, the agriculture ministry has reminded farmers of insurance for protection against “severe and uncontrollable natural hazards” through the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation.

The province’s AgriStability program, which helps protect against income decline and for which the deadline passed on July 31, had its compensation rates increased from 80 to 90 per cent and its benefit cap increased to $6 million from $3 million in the last year.

“Alberta has been advocating to have the preliminary list of areas where producers can qualify for [a tax deferral] to be released as soon as possible so that producers can plan,” the ministry’s statement read.

And farmers, both Skuban and Kozdroski said, are resilient folk.

“They’re their own breed,” Kozdroski said. “They are strong, and they will find a way to persevere through if they can.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nav Sangha