To say it has been a stressful year for producers and ranchers in Saskatchewan is probably an understatement.
Drought conditions across the province have had the agriculture industry setting off alarm bells in recent months, and those alarms seem to be crescendoing as the situation becomes more dire for farmers.
Cattle ranchers say they are enduring some of the most difficult circumstances the industry has seen in recent memory. Some may be reaching the breaking point.
“I’ve been in it for 53 years, I’ve seen over five million animals, and I have never seen a crisis quite like this,” said Lee Crowley, manager of Heartland Livestock Services in Swift Current, Sask.
“When the farming industry is under stress, they are phoning us asking what they should do because they are scared and they don’t know what to do.
“I’ll get phone calls from 6:30 a.m. to 10 at night and people are wondering what I would do or what their options are.”
With desperate times come desperate measures for some cattle ranchers as the province is seeing record numbers for ranchers selling off their herds.
The drought has played a major part in the uptick in sell-offs since weather conditions have made it nearly impossible for ranchers to find feed for their cattle.
“If I find a 1,000 bales, I got them sold 14 times over in a few days because people want feed and there is no feed available in all the provinces. Montana and North Dakota are burned out, too,” explained Crowley.
“Montana’s putting pressure on our haying prices because they will pay $200 to $300 USD up here, which puts a higher price on our cattle, and I believe there are subsidies for them to help move some hay down there so they can keep their cow herds.”
Crowley said Heartland Livestock Services, which is one of the largest auction markets in Saskatchewan, sees about 300 to 400 cattle at around mid-August in a normal year.
On Tuesday, he shared that approximately 2,000 animals went through their auction ring, including up to 900 wet cows, 600 to 700 calves and 100 bulls.
“They are being sold off because there is no grass or water and it’s hard to find feed, so people are letting their cattle go and selling early,” Crowley said.
“If we lose 20 to 25 per cent of the cows, they will not go back to the business.”
To put it into perspective, Crowley said their average number of cattle for sale on a Tuesday in August is 400 to 500. This year, he estimated they will see 1,000 to 1,500 every Tuesday.
Crowley expects it will only grow from there with numbers doubling by October.
“We have been doubling our handlings since the first of June,” he said. “We have been in kind of a mini fall run all summer.”
Harold Martens, reeve of the RM of Excelsior, said his rural municipality has declared a local state of emergency due to what he is describing as an “agriculture disaster” due to severe drought conditions.
The RM has also requested disaster relief from various levels of government to farmers and ranchers experiencing the difficulties caused by drought.
Martens said they have only received two inches of precipitation on average over the last few months when normally they would get six to eight inches on average.
Add on the fact there was no subsoil moisture coming into the spring this year and he said it has become a trying time for farmers in his area.
“This is worse than it has been in a long, long time,” noted Martens.
The RM of Excelsior, which is just east of Swift Current, Sask., with one of its northernmost points being the Herbert Ferry Regional Park, has seen hay yields down 50 to 60 per cent.
Some residents have had to sell off 50 to 60 per cent of their cow herds.
“We have about 800-plus residents in our municipality and they are really good cattle people and farmers, but they are just shaking their heads,” Martens added.
“There’s the mental stress with all of this because you have to keep water there, grass there, the grazing capacity. It just pushes people right to the edge.”
Martens hopes the local state of emergency declaration will help the provincial and federal governments realize there is a real state of emergency in the RM with immediate supports needed to assist ranchers through this catastrophic time.
Farmers stress line
Sask Ag said the Farmers Stress Line is available 24 hours a day for any needed support at 1-800-677-4442.
The service is run by Mobile Crisis Services Regina and all calls are confidential.
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