There are reportedly at least a million unharvested acres of farm land in Alberta due to wet fields, and Grande Prairie – Wapiti MLA Wayne Drysdale says it’s almost a crisis. He asked Agriculture Minister O’Neil Carlier in Question Period Monday what’s being done to make sure insurance claims are being processed quickly.
“I am happy to report that unharvested acreage claims are all but completed,” Carlier responded. “Now those same inspectors can concentrate on the wildlife and pre-harvest inspections. I ask every producer out there [to] keep in contact with [Agriculture Financial Corporation Services], whatever the options they so choose.”
Carlier announced last week that he’d asked the Agriculture Financial Corporation Services to streamline inspection procedures so harvests can be finished. Drysdale argues every week is crucial for producers, as they have to deal with last year’s crops and ruts in the ground before they can seed again.
“Even the guys who have their crops off, they’ve been used to going to this minimal or no till, just one-timing the crop in the spring… but last fall they made so many ruts in the field, either swathing or combining, that now they’ve got to deal with the ruts.”