Eligible RMs announced today a good start, but not enough
September 14, 2018 – For Immediate Release – The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan says that the area covered by today’s announcement of a Federal Livestock tax deferral is not large enough.
“Livestock producers in large areas of Saskatchewan are being forced to consider the sale of livestock due to poor pastures, lack of hay and water due to drought,” explained APAS President Todd Lewis. “The areas that are eligible for the 2018 Livestock Tax Deferral do not include all of the affected producers.”
Lewis goes on to explain that eligible areas for the Tax Deferral program that were identified in the announcement today do not include regions which clearly suffered from drought over the last two years, particularly in the western and south-eastern areas of Saskatchewan.
“The areas in Saskatchewan that have received sufficient moisture do not have enough surplus feed to make up for feed shortages, which seriously restricts the ability of producers to find alternate sources. This is why we had asked Federal Minister MacAulay to declare all Saskatchewan producers eligible for the deferral,” Lewis added.
Lewis concluded that he hoped the Federal Department of Agriculture would act promptly to revise their areas of eligibility.
The initial list of Rural Municipalities that are eligible for the Livestock Tax Deferral as announced today by the Federal government, can be found here: http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/programs-and-services/drought-watch/livestock-tax-deferral-provision/2018-initial-list-of-prescribed-regions/?id=1536603017155
Background: APAS is Saskatchewan’s general farm organization – formed to provide farmers and ranchers with a democratically elected, grassroots, non-partisan, producer-run organization based on rural municipal boundaries. As the united voice of thousands of agricultural producers and ranchers in Saskatchewan, we strive to represent the views of a wide variety of agricultural stakeholders in order to form comprehensive policies that can benefit all sectors of society. APAS is a member of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
Feature Image – Black Angus bull from Artesian Angus Farms
