Ranchers and farmers renting the Alberta ag ministry’s pumps and pipes to move water for livestock watering and domestic use in dry areas may now get the equipment for half the going rate.
The province announced Thursday it will cut the rental fees charged under its annual Water Pumping Program, through which producers, or groups of producers, can rent pipe and pumps to fill dugouts or other suitable catch basins from nearby water sources.
Until now, the going rate this year was $500 per day for rental of a pump ($200) and a trailer carrying a mile’s worth of six-inch aluminum pipe ($300). Where six-inch pipe wasn’t feasible, the going rate until now for a pump and a trailer load of eight-inch pipe was $1,000.
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The program is used by between 400 and 1,400 clients each year, the province said Thursday. Its pumping season usually runs from April 1 to Oct. 31.
The 50 per cent fee reduction will apply to anyone who uses the program in the 2015-16 fiscal year, retroactive to April 1, the province said.
The program each year gives priority access to producers “experiencing water shortages for domestic and livestock use.”
The province’s environment ministry said Thursday it will also work with municipalities in dry areas to identify “additional” public lands for grazing purposes and allow temporary grazing or haying permits in “suitable locations.”
“It’s clear that many producers are facing challenges because of the dry conditions this year, and that’s why we are finding common-sense ways to help out farmers during these difficult times,” Ag Minister Oneil Carlier said in a release.
Saskatchewan, where crop and livestock producers are also fighting dry weather this year, recently opened up 90,000 acres of its Fish and Wildlife Development Fund (FWDF) grasslands for temporary grazing.
The Saskatchewan government last month also announced it will allow leaseholders of Crown land to sublet “excess grazing or hay resources” to other producers. — AGCanada.com Network
