Southwestern Saskatchewan ranchers and farmers working on water infrastructure projects under a 2008 program have been granted an extra year to finish the work.
The federal and Saskatchewan governments on Monday extended the deadline to complete projects approved under the 2008 Saskatchewan Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program (FRWIP), from Nov. 1, 2009 to Nov. 1, 2010.
“This extension gives farmers a little more breathing room to complete the infrastructure projects they had applied for under the 2008 program and receive funding,” local MP David Anderson said at an announcement Monday morning in Swift Current.
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Intended to help farmers, ranchers and RMs in Saskatchewan’s dry southwest develop long-term water supplies, the 2008 FRWIP had “tremendous uptake” in the region, provincial Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud said in a release Monday.
The 2008 FRWIP was budgeted for over $29 million in AgriRecovery funds to support eligible projects such as wells, dugouts and pipelines. The application deadline for the 2008 FRWIP was Dec. 3, 2008, and no new applications are being accepted.
However, Saskatchewan producers are eligible to apply for the provincewide version of FRWIP, which was announced in April and funded for up to $52.8 million through the federal/provincial Growing Forward ag policy framework.
