B.C. cattle ranchers say government drought funding a 'good start' but crisis will take years to fix

Unprecedented high temperatures and wildfires have hit British Columbia's agriculture sector hard this year.

Another heat wave is in the forecast this week and the crisis has become a "perfect storm," according to ranchers struggling with skyrocketing winter feed costs, depleted water sources and wildfires.

"Our pastures are looking pretty brown right now and we've had about an inch of rain in the last week," said Judy Madden, a Dawson Creek cattle rancher and president of the South Peace Cattlemen's Association. "No one got the rain they needed. The fear here is that we're going to lose a pile of our breeding herd."

Government appears to be listening.

On Tuesday, the provincial and federal governments announced increased supports for the sector, including a more than $100 million boost to the joint AgriRecovery fund, supports for cattle relocated by wildfires, and a Wildfire Emergency Feed Program to offer two weeks of support for commercial livestock businesses without feed.

Madden is just one of many in the province's vital agriculture sector sounding the alarm about this year's record-shattering temperatures and early wildfire season — which, so far, has incinerated 87 per cent more land than the 10-year average.

On Tuesday, B.C. agriculture minister Lana Popham said B.C. farmers and ranchers have experienced significant losses this year.

"The losses B.C. farmers and ranchers have experienced this year have been heartbreaking, and recovering from them will take time, commitment and support," she said in a statement.

The Dawson Creek Chamber of Commerce's executive director, Kathleen Connolly, told CBC News that cow and calf operations are under extreme pressure — caused by depleted water sources, hay shortages, and winter feed grain prices skyrocketing thanks to drought-year harvests.

Producers are in crisis. Compounded with the pandemic, this is a financial and emotional disaster."- Kathleen Connolly

For Connolly, Tuesdays government announcement was "excellent news," but she said governments need to recognize producers are "in a crisis" she calls a financial and emotional disaster — one which will take years to recover from.

"It is excellent news that [governments] are recognizing the severity of the situation," Connolly told CBC. "It is a good start, but won't meet the needs of all producers.

"Government has to recognize that producers are in crisis. Compounded with the pandemic, this is a financial and emotional disaster."

On her own land near Dawson Creek, Madden said her fellow ranchers are using every land and water management technique they can.

"Ranchers are pretty resilient," she said. "But one thing they can't do is just pull bales out of their back pocket if we don't get the rain.

"And if hay's not there, they're not going to carry cows into the winter."