November 19, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffPeace region farmers have reluctantly accepted the aid package that Agriculture Minister Corky Evans presented to them personally in Dawson Creek Tuesday.
In what farmer Allen Watson called the "toughest decision made by the Farm Crisis Committee," the committee decided to put the combine trip on hold and work with the government to determine the details of the three-pronged response by the B.C. government to the agricultural crisis in the province and the Peace in particular. After discussing the proposal, the committee went back to the farmers at a meeting in the Farmington Hall Tuesday night, outlining the proposal.
"We have not enough information to see if it's going to work or not for farmers, but we decided to postpone the combine trip and get more information," said the committee's secretary, Rod Strasky.
Strasky said he believes the efforts the group has made in the last month, including the threat of sending the combine down to the Legislature and protesting at the Premier's Summit in Prince George last month, have significantly contributed to the content of the package and in any event to the fact the minister decided to make his announcement in the Peace. Some of the farmers were appalled with the aid package.
"It's not crumbs they're giving us, it's garbage," one farmer said, asking MLA Jack Weisgerber, who was present at the meeting, to relay that message through to Victoria. The farmer said the package is not doing anything for the short term, helping those farmers that are in the most desperate need of financial help.
Strasky admitted the proposal means there will be jobs lost in the Peace, farm jobs and related industry jobs.
"The seed plant has already laid off one person," he said, adding that farm equipment dealerships still have enough work but expect they will have to lay of several mechanics and salespeople as well.
"This doesn't address any short-term problems. It'll be six months or more before we see anything out of these programs, except the loan guarantees maybe," he said.
With the package in place and a careful commitment by the federal
government to match the province's $18 million in loan guarantees, farmers believed there is not much to gain from action, more from cooperating to adjust some of the programs announced to make them work for the farmers.The Whole Farm Insurance Program, for example, said Watson, is based on the Alberta FIDP program and Alberta farmers have expressed several concerns with that program in that it doesn't address multi-year disasters and negative farm incomes. Farmer Frank Breault said he believes there is room for improvement and the government is willing to listen.
"We're holding a glass in our hand. It has some water in it and we want to continue filling the glass," he said.
Canada News November 18, 1997
Sterling News Service
AM-Farmers-Aid
B.C. government offers loan guarantees over crop failures
DAWSON CREEK, B.C. (CP) - Farmers hard hit by crop failures were offered help Tuesday through $18 million in loan guarantees, Agriculture Minister Corky Evans said.The aid is needed after an unusually severe year in which hail, wind and floods have caused more than $70 million in farm losses, said Evans.
"The agriculture industry contributes $2.2 billion to our economy and diectly employs 62,000 British Columbians," Evans said in a prepared statement.
Grain farmers in the Peace River region of northeastern B.C., have suffered two disastrous harvests in a row because of wet weather, said Evans. The loan guarantee program will be available to farmers in four regions - the Peace, the Okanagan Valley, the Lower Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island.
The minister also announced a two-year pilot program starting in January aimed at linking a farm insurance program to farmers' tax returns. In addition, the government is paying out $15 million in crop insurance claims to cover damaged crops this year.
The government also wants to fine-tune the crop insurance scheme to get more farmers involved, he said.
The measures are not a bailout, but are aimed at allowing farmers to address financial problems so they can continue to contribute to the provincial economy, he said.
Minister Evans to Visit Dawson Creek
November 13, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffNick Parsons' combine won't be leaving for Victoria on Monday, the Farm Crisis Committee decided Thursday after learning B.C. Agriculture Minister Corky Evans will come to Dawson Creek Tuesday to announce the government's response to agricultural problems throughout the province.
"We have to give him a chance to speak his piece before we set the wheels in motion," said Rod Strasky, the committee's secretary.
The news of Evans' arrival to make the announcement at the Peace River Regional District Tuesday at 9:30 was brought to the farmers by farmer Frank Breault, member of the B.C. Coalition of Farm Commodities Group that met a couple of weeks ago in Richmond for a meeting with ministry officials. Breault said the group was called back to a meeting with the minister in Prince George on Monday to discuss the aid-proposal Evans has been preparing for Peace grain farmers, tree fruit growers, potato growers, and other agriculture commodities that have suffered losses this year because of the weather. Not knowing the contents of the aid package at this time, Breault said it's a sign of hope Evans chose the Peace to make the province-wide announcement.
Strasky agreed."The fact he's coming up to make this announcement here means we've
touched a chord down there," he said. "We feel we've already done as much as any other group down there - and in a very short time."Committee member Allen Watson said he's "cautiously optimistic" Evans' proposal will be acceptable to the farmers, but expressed the doubt there will be a large cash hand-out in the package.
The committee has called an open meeting on Tuesday night to discuss the government's plans with farmers, similar to the meeting in Farmington on Oct. 14. Place and time will be announced later. Watson said the combine trip is on hold, not canceled. The Farm Crisis Committee will make a decision Tuesday night whether the combine will still leave on Wednesday or Thursday.
"The combine is ready, all greased up. It's not going into winter storage yet," said Watson.
Meanwhile, farmers have been out on the field in the last couple of days now the ground is frozen and hard enough to get on with heavy equipment. Nick Parsons said farmers are struggling, but yields are so low, it hardly covers the cost of fuel.
"I can combine at night only, because the sun during the day heats up the metal of the combine, melts the frost and blocks it up all the time," he said.
Because the snow at the end of October flattened the grain, it's very hard to pick up the crops from the frozen ground with a swather, he said, estimating that the yield of the barley field he combined last night was 15 bushels per acre. Normal yield is between 50 and 60 bushels per acre.
October 29, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffPeace River South MLA Jack Weisgerber was more than a little ticked off after he and Peace River North MLA Richard Neufeld were asked to leave from a meeting of Peace region farmers with B.C. Agriculture Minister Corky Evans.
The impromptu lunch meeting in Prince George Tuesday, after farmers had picketed outside the Prince George Civic Centre to draw attention to the agriculture disaster in the Peace, was also attended by three other cabinet ministers, bureaucrats and several Peace politicians that have been involved in finding a solution for the farmers. Local and provincial media were also not admitted to the meeting, according to meeting organizer Frank Breault, to make sure all parties involved could freely speak their mind about the issue.
"I can't imagine any reason why they wouldn't allow us in," Weisgerber said. "If it's a matter of confidence, I've always respected government confidence in the past and continue to do so."
He said the two Peace MLAs have been very active to help the farmers in the past year and could have contributed positively to the talks.
"We want to give every help we can," he said. "We have the knowledge about the area some of the people at that table don't have."
October 28, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffMackenzie junction-After two hours of talking about barley and wheat, it's finally getting light. The bus carrying 30 Peace region farmers to the Premier's Summit in Prince George today makes its way through the Pine Pass.
For a while, the bus was stuck behind a snow plow, but now it has passed the equipment and makes its way through the freshly fallen snow on its own. Rod Strasky reflects on why he is here, on the way to Prince George at the end of October, and not sitting by the fire on his Farmington farm after a harvest well done. Strasky has hardly been able to do any harvesting this year, and it's time the government understands that, he says. That's why he's here. That's why they're all here.
"We have to put some faces behind the report from Wes Andersen," says Strasky.
Andersen was commissioned by the regional district to write a report on the agricultural crisis in the region. Andersen's report estimated the damage to the economy as a result of the farming crisis at $43 million.
"We have to tell (agriculture minister Corky Evans) it's not gotten any better since he came up here last winter," Strasky says. Barry Critcher of Tower Lake says this summit is about jobs for the north.
"Well, it seems the north ends in Prince George," he says. "How about retaining the jobs in agriculture that we already have?"
Critcher says for every one dollar a farmer makes, someone makes seven dollars off the same product. There are an awful lot of jobs at stake if the government chooses to keep ignoring the farmers. Strasky agrees--any government help will immediately go to work in the local economy. "That money, if it comes, won't even sit 15 minutes in the bank account. It'll start paying bills immediately."
Something needs to be done, says Critcher. Though he doesn't expect much from the meeting the group will be granted with Evans this afternoon.
"It's the young farmers like us that are the first to go. We don't have the equity to fall back on."
Critcher says farming is not the same as any other business. Farmers like him have had farm more land more efficiently to pay down their debts. Then, when something goes wrong, it can go terribly wrong. You can't always depend on the weather.
"We've looked at this grain all summer long. We saw it grow. Then when payday comes,"--he clicks his tongue--"it's gone." Nick Parsons has little confidence in the meeting that will follow in a few hours. If anything, the protest will get some attention and is a warm up for his Victoria trip in November."From the meeting today, we'll know for sure if we have to continue our Victoria action."
Parsons hopes Premier Glen Clark will today take back the words he spoke three weeks ago in Dawson Creek. "The premier has to make a public apology to the farmers for saying agriculture is an unviable industry," Parsons says.
October 29,1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffThe 30 protesting Peace farmers were treated with respect in Prince George Tuesday, but the group went home largely with a feeling of disappointment as the government made it clear there will be no bailout for farmers in need.
"I'm very disappointed," said Farm Crisis Committee spokesperson Nick Parsons. "What I've heard today is no more than I've heard before. We're running the combine down to Victoria, definitely."
The farmers were a little hopeful after talking to Premier Glen Clark for about 15 minutes in the morning in which the premier backtracked on his Dawson Creek statement that implied agriculture is an unviable industry.
The premier clarified he said the government is not willing to support an unviable industry, without judging agriculture in that category. Clark told the farmers a plan to deal with the agriculture problem in the entire province is forthcoming sometime in mid-November.
"Hopefully we'll have some solutions that we'll work in with the farmers to develop. They may not be as generous as they would like, I was quite up front about that. Certainly we're looking to see if we can find a way to stabilize the industry," Clark said in answers to media questions after the meeting.
However, Agriculture Minister Corky Evans clarified at a 1 1/2-hour long meeting later in the day that the aid program will not contain any ad hoc payments but will address the future of agriculture in the long run. One of the promises Evans made to the farmers is to have another hard look at the recently restructured crop insurance program that, farmers claim, still doesn't work in the north.
"I think that's fair comment. If the society isn't going to subsidize the production of food, then we have to at least make it possible to operate within a business climate where you can hedge against disaster," Evans said.
The agriculture minister said he's working on a plan, but it will not be ready before Oct. 31, the date that many farmers have loan payments and seed and fertilizer credits due, after which time they will be paying 23 or 24 per cent interest charges. Peace River Regional District chair Joe Judge, present at the meeting with Evans, said the fact there will be no ad hoc payments is disastrous for those farmers facing the Oct. 31 deadline.
"It means they're going to be hurt very painfully. We know that there will be farmers out there, and farm families that may be second, third or even fourth generation, who may be losing their farms. It's going to have an incredibly hard effect on our community in terms of the economic outlook in the Peace River area," Judge said.
Evans said the government is looking to speak to those lending institutions to persuade them to hold off on foreclosures on farms immediately after Oct. 31 and wait for the government's plan to deal with the disaster.
Rod Strasky, Farm Crisis Committee secretary, said some relief to make up for the estimated $100 million in lost opportunity cost for 1996, 1997 and 1998 is essential for some farmers, and though long-term programs are welcome, Evan's announcement is not addressing the immediate need.
"We want the government to invest in agriculture," he said. Strasky said northern agriculture, forestry and the oil and gas industry provide the raw materials that creates the wealth in British Columbia. With the farmers butting in on the premier's summit on northern jobs and development in Prince George, he said the ministers would be wise to protect the agriculture jobs that are at stake after two failed harvests in a row.
"If they sink money in to the industry they have and keep it going, it will continue to make wealth for the province of B.C.," he said.
Clark said the government is definitely going to help the farmers. "There is clearly a problem with farming in British Columbia this year.
It's worst in the Peace because it's the second year," he said. "We're not about to abandon farmers. We have to work on a strategy with them. . . It's not a simple one of giving a whole bunch of money; it's a question of how we can find a way to help farmers through difficult times and sustain agriculture."
The premier said the money the government invested to help the Skeena Cellulose pulp mill in Prince Rupert must not be seen as a bail-out.
"On Skeena Cellulose, the government will likely make money on the arrangements. That's the kind of deal I'd like to do with the farmers," he said, clarifying that help can come in the form of a restructuring of the crop insurance program and possibly loan guarantees by the government.
Combine Protest Ready For Victoria
Oct. 24, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffThere will only be one combine going from Dawson Creek to Victoria, but the combine will be joined on the steps of the Legislature by one or two buses full of Peace farmers, the Farm Crisis Committee announced Thursday.
"We're not changing our mind," said Nick Parsons, spokesperson for the group. "Our main concern is getting there in one piece without hurting anybody."
The crisis committee said the impact of one combine is almost as great as having two or three making the trek, but with every piece of slow-moving equipment you add on the highways, you increase the hazard for other vehicles considerably. Parsons is taking his own combine and will be accompanied by one or two other vehicles to act as pilot cars. The combine will be trucked across the Pine Pass and possibly through other high-risk areas such as the Fraser Canyon.
By driving the combine through areas with a high population density, the farmers hope to gain the support of everyone along the route. The departure date is set at Nov. 17, 9:30 a.m. Parsons said that's a week later than he originally had planned. It was felt the extra time was needed for a thorough planning of the trip.
The trip is completely legal, he said. Highways okayed it, insurance has been looked after and BC Ferries said it's no problem for the combine to be ferried to Vancouver Island. About a week later, Peace farmers will join the combine in Victoria.
"We want to get as much support as possible, so we're hoping to get 100 farmers," said Farmington farmer Brian Derfler who will accompany Parsons on the entire trip.
Donations at Peace River Regional District
October 24, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffProtesting farmer Nick Parsons is still looking for letters of support to take with him when he travels to Victoria on his combine on Nov. 17.
"Only about 20 letters have come in to the regional district. That's not enough," he said.
Besides delegations talking to government officials, what really can make the difference is personal accounts from people about what the agricultural disaster means to them.
Letters are sought from farmers, businesses as well as from the general public that is concerned about the impact of the failed harvests on the community.
Parsons said the Farm Crisis Committee is still open for donations to help finance the trip to Victoria and other costs related to getting a positive answer from the government on the farmers' plea for help. For this purpose, an audited fund has been set up by the Peace River Regional District.
Drop letters and cheques off at the Peace River Regional District office at Alaska Avenue, or send to Box 810, Dawson Creek B.C., V1G 4H8. (Phone 784-3200).
Make cheques payable to Peace River Regional District and specify the money is meant as a donation to the agriculture disaster fund.
October 23, 1997
By Daily News Staff
After working for a day or two on his harvest, Farmington Nick Parsons is back on the campaign trail in preparation for his trip to the steps of the Legislature.
"Community support has been great so far," Parsons said after being promised close to $9,000 in cash, goods and services from businesses in the Dawson Creek area.
Parsons says he figures there should be enough money to cover the costs for the trip, and though he'll continue to raise money, he wants to thank the people that have contributed so far. While most of the reactions have been positive, Parsons said some people have been negative, saying the farmers have nothing to complain about.
"Some of those comments I got from people I didn't expect it from," he said.
The farmers have set up a fund, held in trust by the regional district for the Victoria trip, as well as for other activities. There'll be two dances organized to help fundraising. One in Farmington on Nov. 8, and one in Rolla at a yet to be determined date.
October 23, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffA week of dry and relatively warm weather hasn't done an awful lot to advance the 1997 harvest, farmers said at a Farm Crisis Committee meeting Wednesday night. Overall, the three or four days farmers had the chance to get on some of their fields resulted in more wasted fuel and broken equipment than harvested grain, farmers said. Most of the farmers at the meeting at the South Peace Grain Cleaning Co-op said the few days of unexpected harvest only added a few percentage points to what they managed to harvest before the first snowfall. While some farmers completed all of their seeded acres, others didn't manage to get anything off their saturated fields. The differences per region are large. In the Rolla and Dawson Creek areas, many farmers have all or a large part of their crop in the bins. Further north and west, the situation is a lot worse. Farmington farmers are about 20 to 25 per cent done on average, up from 15 to 20 per cent last week. The Tower Lake and Doe River areas have also performed dismally this year. "Some never harvested anything two years running," a Tower Lake farmer said. Landry farmer Allen Watson said that by the looks of it, region-wide, farmers have harvested about 50 per cent of their crops. When taking into account that farmers managed to only seed 50 to 60 per cent of the acres in late spring, the acreages harvested are about 25 per cent from what it is in an average year. "The degree of crisis hasn't changed much this week," Watson said. Other farmers said it may have gotten worse. Farmers broke equipment on the muddy fields and pulled foot-deep ruts in the soil that will have to be repaired before next year's seeding, which may prove difficult if the fields don't dry up. Acres harvested is only one aspect of looking at how good or bad a harvest is, farmers said. Yields per acre are down considerably, ruts in the field require repairs, equipment has had to be outfitted with four-wheel drive kits and double tires, working on muddy fields requires more fuel and the natural gas and propane bills are high to dry the grain to a moisture level that doesn't make it rot as soon as it enters the bins. Farmers said they are desperate for cash. While the restructuring of programs such as crop insurance are badly needed for the future, if help doesn't come soon, there may be no future for a lot of farmers. "Something's got to happen between now and spring, because if it doesn't, I know I'm not here," said Farmington farmer Nick Parsons. "And there'll be more like you," Dawson Creek farmer Brian Haddow added. Parsons, who started a media campaign last week by parking his combine at the traffic circle was voted to act as a spokesperson for the committee. The committee will continue to plan for strategic action, including a trip to the Premier's Summit in Prince George on Oct. 28 and a combine-ride to Victoria in the second week of November.
Realtors Do Take Farm Listings
October 20, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News Staff
It's a preposterous idea that realtors would have stopped taking farm listings, local realtors say after rumors from farmers that have used the argument to illustrate the seriousness of the agricultural disaster. While not disputing the disaster is real, realtors say it hasn't come to the point yet where farmers are en masse forced to get out of the business and put their farms on the market. Peacelander's Lloyd Smith said his company hasn't seen a noticeable increase in farm listings yet and there haven't been enough farm sales yet to mark a downward trend in the value of farms. "There are no more farms listed than there were last year at this time," Smith said. "We don't have any large grain farms for sale, unfortunately. We'd love to. If someone wants to sell them, I hope they come in." He said there may be more farmers thinking about selling their farm, but whether that will ever happen is something only the future can tell. "(Realtors) take listings on anything, anywhere, anytime. That kind of suggestion doesn't make any sense at all. There's no logic to it," said Lance Dowd of Dowd Realty. "There's a buyer for everything if the price is right, so no one would ever turn down listings." Dowd hasn't been active in property sales lately, but suggested that it's too early for farmers to actually put their farm on the market. At Remax, Tom Moran said his company also isn't seeing more farm listings than usual at the moment. "It's certainly not something we're aware of," he said, adding that he didn't think the real estate market will be flooded anytime soon with farms. "I don't think there are going to be a whole bunch more. I'm sure that there are going to be some people that are getting tired of keep trying at the farming end of it, but there are all different types of reasons people sell for," Moran said, saying that it's hard to look speculate on what will happen. "If they are going to have another bumper crop like they had two years ago, everybody will want farms."
Agriculture Meeting Disapointing
October 20, 1997
By Daily News Staff
High hopes for immediate help for Peace region farmers were trashed Thursday as the meeting between the farmers and Ministry of Agriculture representatives did not move the decision making process forward all that much, said Joe Judge, Peace River Regional District chair.
The farmers had hoped Victoria would be announcing some kind of immediate financial assistance for them now they are facing the second consecutive crop failure due to wet weather. PRRD area B director Goodings, who attended the Richmond meeting, said the consensus of the meeting was the agricultural industry and the federal and provincial governments are working in partnership on options to address the disastrous crop situation. All three parties will be dedicating resources to dealing with the issue immediately. Although no commitments were made, Goodings said she believes decisions will be made in the short term and solutions will be found. The regional district board said it will continue to push the issue home with the province. It has also concurred with a request from the Farm Crisis Committee to hold funds in trust. The committee is raising money to support a proposed demonstration in Victoria next month.
Judge said he's delighted to see the growing grass roots support for
farmers in the Peace. "Everyone is coming on side - businesses in town, our MLAs and MP, the farmers themselves and all municipalities," he said. "The local media - radio, television, print - have all been doing an outstanding job in supporting the agriculture community. We have to make the province aware of this support and insist that the province gives the help so desperately needed by our farmers."
Regional district directors and municipal councillors have promised to discuss the agriculture disaster with the various provincial ministers they will be meeting with during the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, this year in Vancouver from October 21 to 24.October 15, 1997
By Daily News Staff
About a hundred farmers at a hastily called meeting at the Farmington Hall Tuesday decided enough is enough, and something needs to be done to make Victoria appreciate its daily bread. The farmers struck a Farm Crisis Committee of seven representatives towards the end of the four-hour discussion, but failed to draft an exact action plan. Instead, the committee will act as contacts for area farmers who have issues they want to see addressed by the government and represent the farmers' interests to attempt to resolve the cash flow issues facing farmers after the last two years of poor weather in the region. Landry farmer Allen Watson said he decided to call the meeting on Monday after he didn't sleep too well a couple of nights ago when he heard a combine had moved into Dawson Creek. "It shows there is some real desperation out there," he addressed the farmers. "We've just come through two of the toughest years I can remember in all my years of farming, and we've already two strikes against us for getting a good crop in for 1998. If that doesn't spell disaster, I don't know what does." Among those present were Prince George-Peace River MP Jay Hill, Peace River Regional District chair Joe Judge, PRRD area D director Albert Erbe, and Dawson Creek Mayor Blair Lekstrom. South Peace MLA Jack Weisgerber was represented by his Constituency Assistant, Sharlene Gevatkoff. Hill said he's been pushing the Peace farmers' cause in Ottawa for a year and a half now, but asking for federal financial assistance is "a waste of my time," he said, until the B.C. provincial government adequately addresses the problem and releases its part of relief funding in any shape or form. Hill explained any federal relief funds have to go through a formal process and part of that is that the province commits resources first. "That's what the problem hinges on: Victoria refuses to address the problem," he said, adding that both Canadian Wheat Board minister Ralph Goodale and Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief are very aware of the situation, but not from the B.C. government. "They said they haven't even heard from (B.C. Minister of Agriculture) Corky Evans," Hill said. Lekstrom said the problem with Victoria is that it claims the farmers should have had crop insurance, not realizing that crop insurance doesn't work in the north because farmers frequently miss insurance deadlines because of late springs. The statement was reiterated by Premier Glen Clark on his visit to Fort St. John, said PRRD chair Judge. A week later, Clark said in Dawson Creek that his government is not prepared to put money in an uneconomical industry that can't look after itself. The statements have hurt people in the north, Judge said, spurring the farmers to start taking some action. "Farmers, generally, are an optimistic bunch. We didn't get the support from them. People were hoping, maybe we can get a good crop off this year," he said, adding that now is the time to mobilize, write letters, take action. Lekstrom said all politicians in the north stand behind the area farmers and are willing to go to bat for them. "We don't just fight for the survival of the farmers. We fight for the survival of the cities in our region. We fight for the survival of our lifestyle," he said. "Dawson Creek wouldn't be alive today if it wasn't for the farming community that surrounds it." Farmer Frank Breault is part of a Peace delegation invited to talk to government officials in Richmond Thursday, as are other agriculture commodity groups that are hit by weather anomalies this year. Breault said he's done some homework through his involvement in the Safety Net Committee and estimated there will be about $200 million in relief funding requests from throughout the province. After talking to Corky Evans, Breault said Evans is supportive of any action Peace farmers will take, unless it's illegal or makes mockery of himself. "Corky Evans said, he wants us to communicate with every government official possible, particularly in the premier's office," Breault said. "That's a good indication. It may mean that something will go to cabinet pretty soon and through to the treasury." Breault said tree fruit growers are asking the government for $30 million because of hail damage. Potato growers ask $20 to $40 million after seeing their crop drown. In the Lower Mainland, cabbages and turnips producers could ask Victoria for up to $40 million, raspberry growers ask $15 million, strawberry producers ask $10 to $15 million, and blueberry and grape producers are expected to put in a claim as well, Breault said, urging the farmers to get organized to get their fair share if there ever is a pie. Damage in the Peace was estimated at $43 million before the 1997 harvest. New figures are being compiled and could run up to $100 million if this year's crop losses and anticipated losses for 1998 are calculated in.
BC Rail Losing Revenue As Crop Disaster Continues
October 15, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffBC Rail is losing up to $2 million in revenue per year as a direct result of the Peace agricultural disaster, the Crown corporation's account manager for grain says. Tim Ayling said he's done the math and predicts the amount of grain the company will be hauling out of the B.C. Peace this year will be a fraction of what it was two years ago. "A drastic reduction in tonnage is what the impact is, which in turn results in less car loads," Ayling said. The reduction in grain transportation comes at a bad time, as the rail company has recently made an investment and increased its car fleet to nearly 200. "Of course, the timing couldn't have been better, eh," said Ayling with a dose of irony. Ayling said in a good year, BC Rail would probably have hauled about 440,000 tonnes of grain out of the BC Peace. In 1996, when about 60 per cent of the grain was harvested, the tonnage hauled dropped to about 260,000 tonnes. Because farmers seeded only 50 to 60 per cent of their fields this year and managed to only harvest about half of that, Ayling said that - even with a possibly higher yield per acre - grain business for BC Rail is bound to drop even further. "I'd think we'll be lucky if there's 200,000 tonnes of grain produced on the B.C. side. I think it's probably closer to 150,000 tonnes," he said. "The impact on B.C. Rail, I'd say, is anywhere from $1 million to $2 million, probably closer to $2 million, annually." While grain represents only about two per cent of the business of Ayling said BC Rail has successfully tried to fill some of the capacity void with grain trucked to Dawson Creek and Fort St. John from the Alberta side of the Peace. However, if it wasn't for regular service of BC Rail to the Louisiana-Pacific OSB plant, the rail company would have to reduce its service level. "We need that base, we need that core freight to maintain the service levels there. Dawson Creek is a branch line; it's not on the main line. L-P does drive a lot of our need to get into there and out of there." Even if the grain industry in the Peace would collapse completely, BC Rail will not pull out of north eastern B.C. because there is enough other business from the mining and forest industries. "Never," said Ayling. "We have enough traffic up there to keep the operation going. As for the Dawson Creek sub, we would have to evaluate that, but let's hope we'll never have to make such a decision."
Does the Government Get It?
October 3, 1997
By Jamie Dirom
Daily News StaffIt's unclear whether or not the provincial government fully understands the crop disaster in the area, Mayor Blair Lekstrom said Thursday. Lekstrom said that a presentation like the one representatives from the region gave is valuable, "but I don't know if it could ever paint a really good picture in somebody's mind." Lekstrom told attendees at the Chamber of Commerce's luncheon meeting Thursday that it became clear deputy agriculture minister Catherine Read wasn't aware of the severity of the situation until her visit to the region Tuesday. As a result of her visit, which included an aerial tour over several area farms, Read said that she would discuss the agricultural problems in the Peace with minister Corky Evans and Premier Glen Clark. "I think it enlightened her somewhat and helped her understand the magnitude of what we're facing here," Lekstrom said. He said he is "somewhat more encouraged now than I was after the meeting in Victoria." At the luncheon, Lekstrom also suggested that provincial officials lacked credibility on the issue, and he singled out comments made by Premier Glen Clark who said that the problem was related to farmers not taking out enough crop insurance. Lekstrom said that he questions if Clark understood the crop insurance program when those comments were made, noting that there are various seeding dates that farmers need to meet in order to receive insurance--many area farmers were unable to meet those dates and therefore didn't qualify. "Overall, I wasn't happy with his comments," Lekstrom said, "although I understand that some people have talked to him since and he may have a better understanding of (crop insurance) now." "I think the provincial government has some work to do in order to regain the trust of the people in the north."
October 3, 1997
By Daily News Staff
The NDP has abandoned the provinces farmers in the face of a disastrous growing season in several regions of the province, BC Liberal agriculture critic John van Dongen says. "The NDP slashed the Ministry of Agriculture's budget by over 20 per cent last year and now the NDP claims it has no money to help farmers," said van Dongen. "The contradiction here is that the government is prepared to declare certain agricultural areas of the province an official disaster area, yet there will be no financial help for the affected farmers." However, while not giving farmers the support they need, the government is willing to spend almost $200 million of taxpayers' money on Skeena Cellulose in Prince Rupert, said the MLA for Abbotsford. Despite blaming Agriculture Minister Corky Evans for not addressing the problem other than calling for a review of the BC Crop Insurance program, van Dongen said it's the NDP government that is at the root of the problem by not recognizing the importance of agriculture for this province. "The Ministry of Agriculture budget is less than one quarter of one per cent of total provincial spending - the NDP will never achieve a balanced budget by continually slashing ministries that support economic growth," he said. "Unless the NDP starts sending positive messages to investors, B.C. will continue to lag behind the rest of Canada in maintaining jobs in agriculture and agrifood processing."
Deputy Agriculture Minister "Shook up"
October 2, 1997
By Daily News Staff
The B.C. deputy minister of agriculture is worried Peace area farmers will have to sell their farms in the wake of failed harvests two years in a row, the Peace River Regional District says. Catherine Read was shown crop loss and field damage in a wide area while visiting the Peace last week and she is now convinced the agricultural situation in the region is truly desperate, said Phil Cove, PRRD deputy administrator. Read took a helicopter ride through the region, touching down on seven farms for meetings with farmers and flying over dozens more from Prespatou, Milligan and Osbourne in the north to Cecil Lake, Flatrock, Goodlow, Clayhurst, Doe River, Rolla, Farmington and the Dawson Creek area. Following the visit, Read commented to a PRRD board meeting the helicopter flight had given her a good sense of the current situation. She said she was "shook up" when realizing not a piece of equipment was moving on the fields. The deputy minister was accompanied on the trip by Gordon Macatee, assistant deputy minister; Terry Ever, regional director of agriculture for North Central B.C.; Wes Anderson, consultant to the PRRD; and Karen Goodings, PRRD area B director and vice chair. Read said she will speak passionately to the Agriculture Minister Corky Evans and Premier Glen Clark about the very significant damage to Peace agriculture. She spoke to the PRRD board of her worries for some of the people she met who will probably lose their farms and have to leave agriculture, and of the stress that farm families are under. "Ms. Read will now be able to speak on our behalf and fight for us, with real ammunition," Goodings said. "As well, she will be able to develop real proposals for future promised visits to discuss crop insurance and the Net Income Stabilization Accounts. This visit was a good beginning to resolving our concerns and we look forward to working with Ms. Read and her staff in the coming weeks."
How's the Harvest?
September 30, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffThe farmers are busy. The grain elevators are busy. Is that a good sign? Alberta Wheat Pool elevator manager Dale Hofstrand shrugs his shoulders. "If the weather is good in the combine season, we're busy," he says. It doesn't mean, however, that the 1997 harvest is as good as it should have been to cover some of the losses of last year's harvest. "We have half the acres that we should have," Hofstrand said, reluctantly calling the harvest average if there were only more wheat on the fields. Crops this year are generally of a better quality than last year, but there is less volume per acre and many fields remained empty this summer. "You can't call it average, it's way below average," Hofstrand said. "Some 3,000-acre companies have only 600 acres seeded." It's an escalation of events that lead up to another year of poor grain production in the Peace. A wet fall and early winter in 1996 made for a large amount of the grain left in the fields during the winter. The harvesting of that grain after a winter that didn't seem to want to end delayed ground preparation and seeding. By the middle of June, already past the normal seeding deadlines, farmers had only managed to get 50 per cent of the crop into the ground than they had intended to seed. Effectively, that means more losses to the farmers. "It takes about 75 per cent of a farmer's acres to cover the cost," Hofstrand said. Adding to the tragedy are lower prices for the different grain crops this year, compared to last year. Wheat prices are down about 10 per cent. Canola sales bring in about a third less money than it did last year. Hofstrand said the situation is going to have a big impact on the Dawson Creek community. "Two years in a row; where are we going?" At the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture in Dawson Creek, they don't know. Industry development agrologist Dave Woodske agreed many farmers could have a hard time covering the costs with the limited amount of grain they managed to seed. Apart from that, and a relatively wet June and July which may have caused the lower volume of grain per acre, the weather has not been too bad, he said. "The last while has not been too bad. Certainly our growing degree days are better than last year, though not ideal," Woodske said. Still, the wet start of the summer has saturated certain fields to such an extent that farmers have problems getting on them with heavy equipment. "The problem with making any statement is, there's the risk of making it sound too good. There are a lot of farmers that are going to be hurt this year because of the conditions," he said. The rain showers we seem to be getting every four or five days don't help the farmers either, because they can easily set the combining back by two days after every shower. Hofstrand said he expects the farmers to need another week of good, dry weather to finish up the combining on the fields. They would then need some time to work the fields and make them ready for next year to avoid running into the same type of delays, seeding for the 1998 season.
September 18, 1997
By Daily News Staff
The crop disaster report commissioned by the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) will be completed once the 1997 harvest information has been included, says chairman Joe Judge. Joe made the announcement in a press release in which he also noted deputy agriculture minister Catherine Read would be coming to the Peace after the harvest is complete to discuss changes needed to the provincial crop insurance program about the Net Stabilization Account program. Judge said Read also indicated revisions would be made to the federal farm debt mediation services program so that it was useful to farmers before the got into financial difficulties and not just when they reached the point of no return. Judge suggested farmers facing financial difficulties should call Bob Hadley at the Farm Debt Mediation Service at 1-800-642-3890
September 8, 1997
This years and last years growing seasons will be declared a disaster by the provincial government. Directors of the Peace River Regional District and representatives from the agriculture industry met with Catherine Read, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Thursday to discuss the agriculture relief study and to ask for financial assistance for area farmers. Read said that the 1996 and '97 weather conditions would be declared a disaster. However, that declaration may not result in any financial relief. Read told delegates that there is no money in provincial coffers to assist Peace area farmers, just as there had been no money for Okanagan fruit growers after a July hail storm or lower mainland flower and fruit growers after a major snow storm last winter. Ministry spokesman Mike Cowley said that the only financial assistance provided to farmers in the other crises was for damage to buildings and equipment that was not insurable. Crop insurance provided some relief, but for those who didn't buy crop insurance, there was no provincial assistance. He said this was consistent with what happened to Alberta Peace area farmers, many of whom are in a similar situation as BC Peace farmers. Mayor Blair Lekstrom said that the provincial representatives felt that revisions need to be made to the BC Crop Insurance Program and to the Net Income Stabilization Account. Read promised to come to Fort St. John and Dawson Creek after this year's harvest is in, to listen to area farmers and discuss their proposals for revisions before making any decisions. Cowley also noted that the existing Farm Debt Mediation Service also needs revision, with a program in place to provide assistance to farmers before they encounter financial difficulties. The Farm Consultation Service will be developed to provide that assistance. Before the Regional District does any further work, the results of the Victoria meeting will be reviewed by the Regional Board at their Thursday meeting in Fort St. John.
September 3, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffDawson Creek Mayor Blair Lekstrom hopes the Peace River Regional District will make inroads in Victoria today when a delegation will be talking to ministry officials about recognizing the Peace region as a disaster area. The Peace team, consisting of Lekstrom, Area B director Karen Goodings, Wes Anderson of Canadian Agricultural Strategies Ltd., and a representative from the farmers are to meet Agriculture ministry at 2 p.m. Wednesday to talk about the impact of the failed 1996 harvest for the Peace area. Confirmed to be present at the meeting are the deputy minister of agriculture and representatives from the ministries of finance and municipal affairs. "The whole gist of it is to bring down and express the extreme importance of what we're going through here as an agricultural region," said Lekstrom, The report prepared by the Dawson Creek consulting company Canadian Agricultural Strategies is part and parcel of the delegation's success. "I think it's going to bring to light the seriousness of the situation. For some reason they failed to see the importance," said Lekstrom, pointing out that after a recent hail storm in the Interior, the provincial government was quick to offer help. "We don't have the ability to show compelling pictures. Our situation is an accumulation of events, but that doesn't mean it's not equally important. The damage is real," he said. Lekstrom said the $1.2 million development fund Agriculture Minister Corky Evans brought to the region last year does not adequately address the problem. The Canadian Agricultural Strategies report calculates the damage to the region on last year's crop losses at more than $40 million. Another message the delegation will bring to Victoria is that given the weather pattern this year, last year's crop failure could spill over into this year's harvest. "If our weather doesn't smarten up, we could see last year's situation replicated," he said.
August 14, 1997
By Jeremy Hainsworth
Daily News Staff
Producers and community leaders gathered here Thursday to discuss sending a delegation to Victoria to discuss the regional crop disaster with deputy ministers and ministers. But, said Dawson Creek's Mayor Blair Lekstrom, getting people out has become something of a task as farmers are becoming more and more frustrated by the inaction of senior government in dealing with the crisis which is now moving into its second year. "Right now, a lot of people are disenchanted," he said. "They've reached the point of frustration where they believe nothing's going to happen." To make Victoria understand, Lekstrom said the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) might even consider inviting Premier Glen Clark to visit the area. Agriculture Minister Corky Evans visited the area last winter but was unable to have a look at the extent of the damage to the harvest as snow had already covered the unharvested crops. PRRD director Karen Goodings suggested the group might go to Victoria in early September to which PRRD director Short Tompkins added that it would be wise for representatives of producer groups to be part of the trip. "Evans made the point that producer groups were not represented at (an earlier) meeting. He seemed to put that for a reason he shouldn't consider this a disaster area." Tompkins said. "I believe that producer groups participating at this point is critical." One of the reasons for the meeting was to discuss the final report on the crop disaster prepared by consultant Wes Anderson. That report, with a letter signed by the PRRD board and representatives of producer groups will be going with the delegation. "The conclusions of the report are that harvests in 1996 and in the spring and early summer of 1997 were severely damaged by the heavy rains, early frosts and winter weather, with serious impacts on the local economy as a whole," says the letter signed by area producers, politicians and community leaders. "We cannot yet finalize the full extent of the disaster as the bad weather is still plaguing us." Lekstrom said the discussion from the Thursday meeting would be taken to the PRRD board fro consideration.
August 4, 1997
By Jeremy Hainsworth
Daily News StaffWith a report on the 1996-97 Peace farming disaster in hand, local representatives will head to Victoria soon in attempt to convince the government of the seriousness of the situation. After meeting for two hours in Farmington Saturday, delegates from regional farming and political organizations put their names to a letter to accompany the group. We're facing severe financial disaster for a lot of farmers in the region," said Prince George-Peace River MP Jay Hill who called the meeting. "Unless a major miracle happens, the farmers in this region are going to need assistance." The main thrust of the meeting was to find a way to approach governments to recognize the disaster for what it was and to begin to move to provide meaningful aid to farmers in the Peace. And, if the bad weather continues, that disaster could reach into 1998. Hill, a former farmer, said he called to get together so groups involved could devise an action plan for approaching both senior levels of government. Hill himself has appointments with federal Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief and the minister responsible for the Canada Wheat Board, Ralph Goodale, later this month to discuss the disaster. At the session were Hill, members of the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) board, area municipal council members, farmers and representatives of farming organizations. The centerpiece of the session was a crop report update prepared by Wes Anderson for the regional district. Although the PRRD has been briefed on the report, it is not due for release until today. "This disaster has been a slow, lumbering, insidious kind of disaster growing on its own," said PRRD chair Joe Judge. "The government has got to recognize it as a disaster." Anderson said the bad weather that has plagued area growing conditions for the past two seasons has not been seen at the weather stations in Dawson Creek or Fort St. John before. "It's a once in a lifetime event in the region," Anderson said. "That seems to fit with the insurance companies' definition of a disaster." Anderson said that not only was less than half of the 1996 crop harvested, that which could be taken off the fields was of very low quality.
August 4, 1997
In making his crop year report to a Farmington meeting Saturday, Wes Anderson noted the damage to Winnipeg in the recent floods was estimated at about $30. The damage to the economy of the Peace Region so far as farmers continue to battle bad weather is estimated at well over $40 million. "Given the size of the region, that's a pretty phenomenal hit," he said. "I feel these numebrs are quite defendable."
August 1, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News Staff
Golf ball-sized hail stones fell from the sky Tuesday night, but because the hail fell with very little wind, it doesn't look as if damage to farmers' crops is extensive. "(The farmers) told me they felt the hail came straight down, so there was very little damage on the crops," said Lee Bowd, crop insurance specialist with B.C. Agriculture in Dawson Creek. "I was actually surprised because I expected there would be more calls here than there actually were," he said. If a hail storm is accompanied with strong winds, the hail comes in at an angle and can sheer the crop on an entire field right off. "There was one south of the airport about four or five years ago where it looked as if someone had gone through with a lawnmower. The hail just cut everything off a foot off the ground," he said. Damage reports might still come in as farmers didn't have a chance to inspect their crops until Thursday due to the large amount of rain that was still falling Wednesday. Often the extent of the damage doesn't show until a few days later when plants start dying off. Bowd said the band of hail seems to have moved from the area southwest of town to the northeast, with most damage in the northeast corner into Alberta. "It probably didn't hit a lot of canola crop acres in B.C.," he said, though some damage has been reported. Bowd said hail damage to canola at this point in the growing season can be quite damaging because the hail typically knocks the flowers of the plants that then don't produce seed. Some new flowers might re-grow, but because it's already quite late in the summer, there might not be enough growing season left for the pods from those flowers to mature. "The other thing is if a lot of the leaves get damaged, it may set the plant back enough, by the time it re-grows leaves, it may not have enough time to mature as well." While some farmers only got a massive amount of rain during the storm, Wes Clarke on McQueens Road, about 10 kilometres northeast of Dawson Creek, said in the 35 years of farming in that area, he's never seen hail like he saw it on Tuesday night, starting at about 7 p.m. "It started out as pea-sized, then it advanced to marble-sized and then it went up to golf ball-sized," he said of the hail stones that bounced around his house, making large dents in the hood of his truck. Clarke gathered a few hail stones from his lawn, the largest measuring three inches across. Clarke said he's sure he has damage to his crops but doesn't know the extent of it yet. He filed a damage report with his hail insurance company Wednesday. Clarke said there has been already more rain than needed this summer. "If it stops raining now, we have enough moisture until the end of harvest," he said. "It's getting serious, the ground is so saturated." Still hopeful that the weather will change for the better, he said it looks like it's going the same way as last year. "It's not quite as bad as last year yet, but it's pretty bad already."
Bracing for 1997 Crop Disaster
July 2, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News StaffPeace area farmers are bracing themselves for another farming disaster this fall after spring combining of 1996 grain and a wet spring have pushed seeding dates well into this year's summer. Brian Haddow, president of the B.C. Grain Producers Association, told the Daily News many farmers were still seeding crops in the first two weeks of June, about two weeks later than normal. "Everyone pretty well quit with the rain we had June 15," he said, blaming in part the province's crop insurance system for the late seeding because it didn't give permission to burn last year's crop from the fields until June 4, four weeks too late, he said. "To me the deadline is May 10. You've got to get on the fields to seed," said Haddow. B.C. Crop Insurance waited this long because the swaths still on the fields represent a value to them. But, said Haddow, what it did was force farmers to combine instead of making the logical decision to burn the crop and at least get a good crop this year. "If they would have given the permission to burn on May 10, at least I could have made the decision for myself: combine what's there for $30 per acre or get in the ground for next year's crop." Because the last crop insurance deadline for the new crop was June 5, Haddow estimated that only half of this year's crop was seeded within the deadline to qualify for crop insurance. With swaths still on the fields in early June, some of last year's crop even sustained hail damage this year. "I was ready to put in a claim for hail damage - just to show them how stupid it is," Haddow said. Meanwhile the quality of the grain harvested this spring was so bad, it hardly met feed quality, as one hog farmer in the Fort St. John area found out when he fed his pigs moulded grain, poisoning 120 of them to death. From last year's crop, about half was harvested last fall and this spring another 70 per cent of what was left in the field over winter was harvested. While areas such as Farmington did extremely poorly, Rolla for instance didn't do too bad as nearly everything got harvested by the end of May. "Rolla is always higher," Haddow said, contributing the better performance to a better growing season, better soil and better moisture retention. The 1996 crop year was truly the worst in at least 20 years. Though the region has seen bad harvests due to drought in 1985 and 1992, last year was worse. "No one has ever seen a year like 1996," Haddow said, adding that a farmer can cope with one or two poor seasons, but not three. "We've never had a year like we had last year with a bad spring, bad summer and a bad fall. That combination was disastrous." This year promises no better. The wet spring this year and late seeding spells disaster again, he said. "With the weather we've had, it looks like it's going the same way as last year." Another failed harvest will probably force 10 to 20 per cent of the area's farmers out of business, though it will have a major impact on the operations of all farmers. "If we don't have a good harvest, we'll be seeing a lot of auction sales next year," Haddow predicted. What could turn the tide is frost-free weather until October 1 and no snow until November 1, he said, a pipe dream considering last year the frost first hit the Peace in early September and the first snow fell on October 16.
June 20, 1997
By Daily News StaffAbout 1,700 Peace area agricultural producers have been sent a survey to help the Peace River Regional District and its consultant Canadian Agricultural Services (CAS) to determine the exact impact of the disastrous weather last year on the 1996 harvest and 1997 spring seeding. The survey asks producers for information on the acreage seeded and harvested, crop yields and quality and information on the financial impacts on other farming operations. Producers are also being asked for suggestions on the kind of financial assistance they would need. Because of a wet summer and fall and early winter, grain and forage farmers had to leave as much as 80 per cent of their crops deteriorating in the fields during the winter, pushing forward the 1997 seeding dates because crops had to be harvested in the spring. Despite several attempts by producer groups, local polititicians and the regional district, the government has not offered adequate help to farmers in financial need. In addition to the survey, CAS has been meeting with producer groups and representatives. Once the survey results have been gathered, CAS will prepare a report for the regional district by July 14. Depending on the study results, the regional district may be able to use the report to argue for agricultural disaster relief assistance from the provincial government. To help producers complete their surveys, CAS will hold a series of open houses at a number of communities throughout the Peace in late June and early July. The surveys have to be returned to the regional district of CAS no later than July 4. Farmers with questions about the survey can direct those to Wes Anderson at CAS in Dawson Creek, 782-1449.
June 9, 1997
Sterling News Service
DAWSON CREEK — The Peace River Regional District (PRRD) has selected Canadian Agricultural Strategies Ltd. of Dawson Creek to report on the financial impact and extent of damage to crops as a result of the disastrous 1996 weather conditions.
The PRRD was asked by many producers to take on the task of compiling a report detailing exactly what the damage is of the failed harvest said chair Joe Judge. The report is to be presented to the provincial government to obtain financial assistance for agricultural producers locally, "especially for those not part of any insurance plan," he said.
Part of the report that is due back to the PRRD by July 14 is a comparison of the response of the government on the situation in the Peace and the situation in the Fraser Valley that saw damage to agricultural producers due to a large dump of snow around Christmas 1996. A comparison will also be made with the Alberta government’s relief response to the Alberta side of the Peace.
"We want, for lack of a better word, to cajole the provincial government to take a good hard look at this again," Judge said, hopeful that with precise data the government would see its error in virtually ignoring the Peace regarding disaster relief funds.
Producers are invited to send their comments on the implications on the 1996 harvest, within the next couple of weeks, to Wes Anderson, president of Canadian Agricultural Strategies, at #114-1136-103rd Ave., Dawson Creek, V1G 2G7. They can also phone 782-1149 or fax to 782-5404.
Written comments can also be dropped off at the regional district offices in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John.
May 12, 1997
By Dane Gibson
Daily News Staff
Last summer Peace region farmer's gambled when wheat prices soared. The wet weather made for extremely late seeding but many still managed to get wheat into the ground, knowing that a bumber crop would be extremely profitable. In many cases, the gamble didn't pay off. Combines are just now harvesting those ill-fated crops that had to be left in the ground over winter. Seeding, which should have started May 1, is going to be late again this year. "Seeding is very late which means there is a risk of leaving the crops in the ground again," said Alberta Wheat Pool agro-manager Shawn Pearson. "Farmers aren't too optimistic. Lots of crops aren't going to get seeded which means there will be a lot of summer fallow." One of the reasons so many farmers waited last year was the high wheat prices. Pearson says they won't be waiting this year. Most farmers will likely choose early maturing grain varieties. "Grain prices are lower so they won't be pressing the seeding dates. The best case scenerio is we'll see lots of barley and Polish canola," he said. Ministry of Agriculture crop insurance representative Lee Bowd said that the situation will probably affect the number of acres that can be insured. "It's up to the individual farmer. The quality (of grain) will be lower than it was last fall and there are questions as to what kind of markets they can find," said Bowd. "The quality of grain will be such that it is unlikely there will be anything out there on the future markets." An extra dose of sun and wind right now will definitely help those whose crops are still lying out in the fields from last year. "They need the sun and wind to dry the crops that are left out there from last year," said Bowd.
April 24, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News Staff
Victoria is letting its rural road grid slip beyond repair, say Peace region farmers, faced with worse than ever roads surrounding their farms. "These roads were way better 10 years ago," says North Rolla seed farmer Garry Scott, looking at a video he made last week. Scott drove from his farm on Coleman Creek Road to Dawson Creek via rural gravel roads, encountering dozens of places where run-off water has found it easier to travel the road than take the ditches and culverts to find its way to the area's rivers. In some places, the water has washed out part of the road, making it impossible even for a four-by-four truck to pass through. At other places, the water softens the road surface which then is turned into mud with knee-deep ruts, made by passing vehicles of people living on the roads. Scott's own road has four such wash-outs. "This is a school bus route," he says. Ten years ago, the roads were fairly properly maintained. In winter, he snow plough pushed the snow back. Spring damage to the roads was repaired over the summer. Ditches were maintained and kept tree-free. Culverts were placed or repaired when needed. According to Scott, that all changed for the worse when government funding started to diminish and road maintenance was privatized six years ago. "I was in favor of privatizing then. I couldn't have been more wrong," Scott says with a sigh. Because the ditches aren't properly maintained anymore, trees such as willows start to grow in them. That means three things, Scott says. First, the trees block the sight at intersections, making traveling the roads increasingly dangerous. Second, when it snows, the willows trap the drifting snow, allowing for huge snow banks to build up right beside the road. Third, because of the trees, the snow plough can't push the snow back far enough, past the ditch. When the snow starts to melt, the water has no way to run off, building up on farm land behind the snow banks. When it finally pushes through, it can't run through the ditch properly because it is still filled with snow and the water starts running across the road, causing the record number of washouts this spring. Scott says it's going to get worse. In November last year, signs started to pop up across the South Peace, "end of maintained public road." Scott says it came without consultation and as a big surprise to most farmers. In order to save money, the Ministry of Transportation and Highways (MoTH) reviewed more than 700 roads in the South Peace, resulting in the belief that many of the roads, or portions thereof, had too high a classification. According to Stan Beaulieu, district technician with the ministry in Dawson Creek, rarely-used portions of 160 roads were at the time declassified as 8F roads, for the most part rural roads leading to farm land, but with no people living on them. Peace Country Maintenance, according to their new May 1996 five-year contract, has no longer the obligation to do routine maintenance on those roads. Scott and other farmers say with the move the ministry has essentially abandoned those roads. Beaulieu disagrees. "Limited funding dedicated to MoTH has made it necessary for the ministry to streamline its operations to make the most efficient use of public funds," he reads from a ministerial directive. Minister Lois Boone explained Saturday to the farmers the ministry has been faced with a 19 per cent funding cut, making the move towards a more efficient stewardship of the roads an essential need. What that means, Beaulieu explains, is that limited traffic on the 8F roads don't warrant anymore the routine maintenance given to the other roads, but they will still be maintained and repaired when the legitimate need arises. "As a matter of fact, our contractor (Peace Country Maintenance Ltd., PCML) is on some of these roads right now to do repairs," he said. Due to limited funding and the roads' low priority, Beaulieu admitted not all repairs can be done immediately, and are also depending on weather and general soil conditions. For Scott, that's not good enough. "Ninety per cent of my farm land has its access beyond those signs," he says. To be able to get to his farm land as soon as possible for seeding, Scott is now forced to fill in the washouts himself and maintain the ditches properly. Besides the cost of doing that, it poses legal problems as well. "There's this liability thing. I'm not a road builder. I don't have the expertise. What if somebody gets hurt on a road that I repaired? Because I maintain the road doesn't mean that I can determine who gets to travel on them." Though the 8F roads are indeed mainly used by farmers to get to their farm land, they remain open to the public and are used by people cruising the country side, oil and gas crews, loggers, seismic crews, hunters and berry pickers. Beaulieu partly agrees with Scott, saying that hypothetically, there is a danger of liability for farmers that repair the roads with their own means. "If a farmer wants to go out because he wants to get to his field, and he dumps some gravel, I don't think we're going to jump all over him. There might be a liability down the way. You're liable if I walk into your yard and stub my toe on your barbecue. There's a liability factor but you have to measure the risks too." Beaulieu sighs. Maintaining a healthy road grid - the South Peace has 2,900 kilometres of roads of which 2,200 kilometres are rural roads - is very complicated, and especially this year, the melting snow plays hardball with the maintenance workers. "Last year we had a wet summer and fall. Rain, rain, rain, rain. That's why the farmers' crops are sitting in the fields still," he says. With the ground saturated with water and more than average snowfall this winter, the melting snow has no way to go. "Instead of it soaking up in the ground, as mother nature does her thing, it flows over the surface and creates these problems. This year, there's more water running through the areas drainage system than has happened in many years. Because of a significant thaw in February this year, many of the culverts filled with water that then refroze, limiting the amount of water that can flow through them until the ice melts again. It gets even more complicated. Farmers clear more land each year. Logging companies clear more land each year. Because snow melts faster on the fields than in the forests, a few warm days are enough to release a large amount of water at the same time. The ministry could, if it had unlimited funds, built a drainage system throughout the area to let the water quickly run away. In the end, that would create only more problems downstream, Beaulieu said. Would a flood such as in the town of Peace River be worse if all ditches were clean and deep, if all culverts were functioning properly? "Yes, it would," he says. "You have to look at the global picture too." Beaulieu says he understands the frustration of the farmers that want to get on their land as quickly as possible. And yes, there are problems, and the ministry and PCML are working hard to correct them as fast as possible and as funding permits. "The bottom line is, we have not abandoned the roads. Our (MoTH) forces and the maintenance contractor's forces are out there with extra equipment. They're addressing every site. They're all over the country."
Jan. 29, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News Staff
DAWSON CREEK — Area farmers and ranchers decided to form a united front to champion their fight for relief funds to the provincial government Monday.
An informative meeting at the George Dawson Inn, called by a group of farmers calling themselves concerned committee of agriculture producers, attracted more than 60 people representing various agricultural commodities.
The agriculture producers agreed they need to be less fragmented in their response towards Victoria if they ever hope to secure government guaranteed loans such as have been made available to Evans Forest Products in Golden, B.C, and Canadian Airlines.
The group was addressed by MLA Jack Weisgerber, who agreed the $1.2 million Agriculture Minister Corky Evans had made available for long range planning, from a discontinuation of the Revenue Protection Plan, does not adequately address the problems in the Peace.
"Nobody went to the government asking for a 10-year development plan," he said. "We have to drive home to Victoria that we’re not going to be satisfied with the $1.2 million that many believe is our own money anyway."
Farmers at the meeting said they need a zero per cent interest loan, or if that isn’t available, a government guaranteed loan for one per cent above prime rate (5.75 per cent), to cope with what all said is a multi-year problem — because a spring harvest delays seeding which might impact this year’s crop as well.
"If it at least allows people to get out from under some high interest, short term commitments, it seems to me that there’s some benefit," said Weisgerber.
Part of the problem in dealing with Victoria, said one farmer, is that the agriculture in the Peace is spread out over about 15 commodities through a large area, and not as visible as the plant in Golden or Canadian Airlines.
"If we equate the disaster to, for instance, Louisiana-Pacific shutting down, people would see and understand a bit better. How many L-Ps are we equal to?"
Weisgerber agreed, saying what the farmers need is a united plan with as much hard data as possible, since at the moment no one really knows for sure how severe the problem is.
"We’ve got to make clear, with numbers, that these are real people, real families, real farms, and this is what’s going to happen if there’s no government support," he said.
The problem is getting worse, reported Lee Bowd, crop insurance specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture. Because the soil below the snow is not frozen in most places, the grain still on the fields is deteriorating.
"We’re going to have a whole bunch of crap out there that’s not worth combining (in the spring)," he said.
The producers finally agreed the commodity groups should all get together and write a cohesive plan with a new request to the minister for government guaranteed loans to the farmers.
Grain farmer Allen Watson, however, said a committee isn’t going to achieve anything.
"If you want to impress people, you’ll have to do that in numbers. We need two or three busloads going down to Victoria and start banging on some doors," he said.
Another request from the farmers will be for the government to defer payments for the 1997 crop insurance plan until the fall, and to not tie possible government guaranteed loans to the stipulation farmers have to buy into the crop insurance program, which was the case 10 years ago after a draught which spoiled the harvest.
By Matt Ramsey
Jan. 27, 1997
Daily News Staff
DAWSON CREEK — Farmers in the Peace River may see some financial relief in the form of disaster assistance after a dismal fall growing season in 1996 has left some farmers with as little as five per cent of their crops harvested.
Brian Haddow, president of the B.C Grain Producers Association believes some moneys will be arriving from Victoria in the near future.
"We did ask (Corky Evans, minister of agriculture) for a disaster form of moneys and we received $1.2 million. This source was the discontinuation of a Revenue Protection Plan and was instead diverted to disaster relief," Haddow said at the Dawson Creek Chamber of Commerce meeting Jan. 23.
Evans visited the region on Dec. 18 to see the plight of the Peace’s farmers firsthand.
Although the money is welcome, Haddow was not overjoyed with the sum or the time it’s taken to secure it. "(The provincial government) threw the ball back in our court after they punctured it," he said.
The $1.2 million is for long-term assistance for the region over the next 10 years. In addition, local farmers will receive $15,000 loans from the Canadian Wheat Board.
Haddow and the grain producers association are also attempting to secure funds from federal and provincial coffers. The federal moneys are an estimated $2 million that was in the Revenue Protection Plan and a $10 million federal contingency fund.
In addition, $1.8 million may be available through the Western Grain Transition Program. Haddow said $532,000 "should be coming" through the Western Grain Transition Adjustment Fund.
With many fields unharvested, Haddow’s concern is that farmers may not be able to seed quickly enough after harvesting the spring crop. If that occurs, Peace farmers may lose another crop and be faced with another disaster.
January 22, 1997
By Cees Mond
Daily News Staff
Peace Region farmers in general are not happy about the response from the provincial government to the agricultural disaster that hit the Peace last fall, says Farmington farmer Rod Strasky.
When Agriculture Minister Corky Evans came up to the region Dec. 18, he announced the government had made $1.2 million available for agricultural planning in the Peace, but didn't make any money or loans available to farmers who have landed in difficult financial situations due to the failed harvest.
To address questions farmers might have, and to poll the farmers' feelings on whether it is useful to further lobby the government for relief funds and how that should be done, all Peace Region farmers are asked to attend an informational meeting at the George Dawson Inn on Monday Jan. 27, 9 a.m.
"We're basically trying to get the (agricultural) community's views on where we should go from here, to decide if we should do more lobbying," said Strasky, member of an informal group he called concerned committee of agriculture producers.
He said the $1.2 million for future planning of agriculture in the Peace was much needed and was a welcome announcement from the minister, but it doesn't address the cold fact that many farmers have a hard time making it through the winter.
"We kind of feel that the government's response wasn't enough. It didn't really address what we were asking for."
Strasky said he knows of farmers that are in desperate need right now, for whom there might be no future to which the planning money can be applied.
"If you didn't get your crop off, you're short of money somewhere."
Brad Washington, general manager of RNC Sales, said he can definitely measure the effect of farmers' cash-flow problems in his farm equipment business.
"The (dollar) amount of farmers' accounts has doubled since this time last year," he said, a situation that might get worse if the large amount of snow on the fields that has accumulated so far this winter won't disappear early in the spring.
He said his company tries to accommodate farmers' needs wherever it can.
"That's all we can do. It's like a cycle of life, we support farmers for them to support us," he said.
At First Equipment Centre, manager Ron Collins said his company is feeling the pinch as well.
"It's very slow. Lots of people are interested in buying equipment but they're holding of because they don't know what the spring will bring," he said.
Collins said he expects most farm equipment and supply dealers to pull through the tough times without laying off any staff.
"We can't afford to lose experienced people for when it starts getting busy again."
Strasky said the Monday meeting is open to all farmers and ranchers who have questions about the issue, or just want to voice concerns.
January 8, 1997
By Jeremy Hainsworth
Daily News Staff
As a result of last week’s huge storm in southern B.C., producers there are getting a taste of what Peace Region farmers have been experiencing for the past year.
And, contrary to rumors circulating in the Peace, producers in the South won’t be bailed out by Victoria. The sole exceptions to this are those people, producers included, who qualify of provincial and federal disaster relief monies.
"Our ministry has clearly said there’s not financial assistance ... unless people can qualify under the program," said John Berry, communications officer for the provincial Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
That’s the ministry headed by Minister Corky Evans who told Peace Country producers last month that some $1.2 million would "take another $1.2 million to be put towards agricultural development in the Peace."
The catch on that, however, would be that Peace community members would have to put together by Peace community members and ministry staff before money would be forthcoming.
Producers in the Peace had been looking for some form of interest free loans from Victoria to offset the financial implications of the farming disaster which hit the Peace in 1996, the effects of which will be felt for some time to come.
"Much like the Peace, the minister said there wasn’t any ad hoc money we can come up with (to help those affected by last week’s storm)," Berry said.
The communications officer said many of those affected by the storm down south had not taken any insurance on their operations.
"Maybe it takes a couple of these instances for people to look at insurance," he said.
In the Peace, only about 17 per cent of crops were insured as producers felt the crop insurance program as it existed then was inadequate.
Evans has since revamped the system in hopes it will better serve producers’ needs.
Berry concluded that the North took the weather hit last year and, with last week’s storms, it was the South’s turn.
Compu-nerd
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