Wild Fire
The worst wildfires in BC’s history are over, but the damage they wreaked is still affecting farmers' lives and livelihoods.
The BC and Canadian governments say they are acting to help ranchers and farmers affected by the devastating 2017 wildfires.
The announcement was made in August at the first meeting of BC Agriculture Minister Lana Popham with her federal counterpart Lawrence MacAulay.
Popham says the governments are working together under the AgriRecovery disaster plan to provide assistance for the BC agriculture sector.
"The AgriRecovery response will help BC ranchers and farmers recover from their losses, and return to their land and their livelihoods,” says Popham. “Our governments are working with producers, local officials and stakeholders, and the results and spirit of resilience is collective and clear; we will work together to respond to this emergency until the job is done."
Government officials have been working to assess the extraordinary costs farmers are incurring and what additional assistance may be required to recover and return to production following the wildfires. The types of costs under consideration include:
• Costs related to ensuring animal health and safety.
• Feed, shelter and transportation costs.
• Costs to re-establish perennial crop and pasture production damaged by fire.
While farmers have been affected, ranchers were generally hardest hit by the raging fires across BC, particularly in the Cariboo region.
"B.C. ranchers are happy to hear that the two governments are doing the necessary assessments that will be needed to give them a fighting chance to get back into business,” says Kevin Boon, General Manager of the BC Cattlemen’s Association.
"While the funds may go towards ranchers rebuilding the infrastructure and supplying feed for their animals, every dollar will be spent in the communities where they live. Those funds will be every bit as important to rebuilding the communities as they are to rebuilding the ranches and helping the B.C. cattle industry to survive.”
Farmers or ranchers needing assistance can go to the AgriRecovery web page for more information and contacts: http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/?id=1387480598562
