Alberta looks for feed, Ottawa promises cash for B.C.

Even though supplies are low because of drought, Alberta is looking for feed to send to B.C. livestock producers, while Ottawa will provide emergency financial assistance to farmers dealing with flooding and closed roads in the hard-hit province.

“We’ve been working with the B.C. department of agriculture,” Alberta Agriculture Minister Nate Horner said during a tour of Olds College Thursday with his federal counterpart, Marie-Claude Bibeau.

“Their initial ask was to help with their provincial veterinary lab (in Abbotsford). It’s currently underwater. Our team is working with them to figure out how we can assess their needs, whether that means picking up diagnostic tests of actual animals, they’re figuring that out today.

“The other ask, from Premier (John) Horgan to Premier (Jason) Kenney, was around feed. We have been in contact with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. They have some feed on the go, and they’re looking for more.

“Our feed challenges are well-documented. We’re seeing what we can do.”

Ottawa is looking at how to best provide emergency funds, said Bibeau, adding it will most likely be through AgriRecovery or another existing business risk management (BRM) program.

“The BRMs work quite quickly,” she said. “We are also looking at different ways of how we can support our colleagues as well.”

Both rail mainlines to the Port of Vancouver are shut down and Bibeau said CN and CP are still assessing the damage, so can’t say when they will re-open.

“We were already facing challenges in terms of transportation with (shipping) container availability,” said Bibeau. “It obviously presents an additional challenge to our food supply chain. It’s been something that we are working on. We are also having conversations with our U.S. counterparts to see how we can accommodate going through the U.S.”

Although there’s no estimate of when trains will begin moving again, “we’re maybe fortunate that harvest has been largely over for a couple of months,” said Horner.

“A lot of grain has already left the province. We’ll have to see how bad it is. We’re lucky there’s been a lot of storage added within Alberta on our rail lines the last couple of years. But we’ll have to see where it takes us.”

The rail situation is being closely watched, added Bibeau.

“Federal officials are in touch with officials at CN and CP to monitor the situation,” she said.

— Alexis Kienlen is a reporter for Alberta Farmer Express in Edmonton.