Drought pushes Parkland County to declare state of agricultural disaster

Parkland County council has declared a state of agricultural disaster.

"These extreme drought conditions are devastating crops across Parkland County," said Mayor Rod Shiagec in a news release Tuesday. "Council wants to make it clear to our agricultural community that we understand, and will provide all means of support possible.

"By declaring a state of agricultural disaster, we hope to call attention to this extremely important issue." 

Moisture levels in some areas of the province are at the lowest levels in 50 years and grasshoppers are devastating crops in some areas of Parkland County, just west of Edmonton.

County councillors intend to ask the provincial and federal governments to set up a disaster recovery program for farmers.

In 2009, extreme dry weather prompted at least 10 Alberta counties to declare states of emergency, many of them around the city of Edmonton.

Oneil Carlier, Alberta's minister of agriculture and forestry, said in a statement he shares the concerns of farmers across the province.

Municipalities can choose to issue a disaster declaration to increase awareness of the conditions in their region, he said.

"Rest assured, we are monitoring the weather and moisture situation very closely to understand the impact on crops and pasture."

Carlier was on his way to Prince Edward Island on Tuesday to meet with his federal, provincial and territorial counterparts, and said drought conditions would be on the agenda.

"Our Agriculture Financial Services Corporation is also monitoring the conditions on an ongoing basis," Carlier said in his statement. "They have a number of existing programs that are designed to assist producers in circumstances such as this. Producers have access to crop insurance, farm loans and other business risk management programs such as AgriStability and AgriInvest to help offset losses or deal with adverse conditions."