Lack of moisture over the past year dried up more than wheat and canola fields.
It also withered farm income down to a near-empty husk of what it would be in a normal year.
The devastating impact of the drought on producers across the province will be a primary focus for delegates to the annual Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) mid-term convention in early November.
Several resolutions slated to be debated at the virtual convention November 9, including one submitted by the RM of Corman Park, are seeking financial relief for producers.
“It’s been an extremely tough year for farmers,” said Corman Park Reeve Judy Harwood. “They’ve been hit hard and I worry not just about what families are going through this year, but also next year.
“They need help, and I’m hoping the provincial government hears that message and responds in a positive way.”
Harwood, who also serves as SARM District 5 Director, said delegates will be most anxious to hear what Agriculture Minister David Marit has to say in his address to the opening session of the online conference.
“I think the Minister, as a farmer himself, certainly understands the situation,” she said. “I anticipate there will be a lot of questions from delegates during that session.”
The resolution from the RM of Corman Park to the SARM convention is requesting financial relief for producers who were unable to fulfill their obligations under contracts to deliver the yields specified.
“Their yields this past year were so low they couldn’t fulfill their contracts,” said Harwood. “Now they’re on the hook for thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of dollars.”
“Our feeling as a council when we passed that resolution was that we want to help our farmers any way we can.”
Harwood acknowledged there is validity to the assertion that ‘a contract is a contract’ and farmers knew what they were signing. But they can’t be held responsible for lack of rain, she added.
“There used to be a clause that took into account acts of nature like drought,” she said. “That clause is no longer in the contracts, so farmers don’t have that protection anymore.”
Other resolutions slated to come up at the convention deal with non-payment of municipal tax obligations by oil and gas companies. Dozens of rural municipalities across the province are reporting millions of dollars in lost revenue as a result of these defaults, resulting in the municipalities having difficulty keeping up with road maintenance and other essential infrastructure upkeep.
Another resolution deals with hunters failing to get permission from landowners before accessing their property.
The RM of Duck Lake has submitted a resolution requesting that quads and other off-road vehicles be licensed similarly to snowmobiles. The RM says irresponsible ATV riders do considerable damage to RM roads, requiring the municipality to cover the cost of repairs.
Several resolutions request the province to increase the amount of resources earmarked for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Rural health centres are particularly hard hit by the increase in cases.