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Cattle struggles deepen in Alberta

Cattle struggles deepen in Alberta

A second rural municipality in Alberta has declared an agricultural disaster because of drought this spring as beef producers head into summer, a period typically of less rain. “We haven’t seen the total effects of the drought,” said Stan Schulmeister, reeve of the County of Paintearth east of Red Deer. “But the agricultural producer that’s strictly dealing with livestock is going to find it very difficult to find feed this year because it’s almost province-wide, the damage to the hay crop and so on.”

Cattle producers face challenging season thanks to drought

Cattle producers face challenging season thanks to drought

70-year-old Arnold Balicki says he has never seen a drought like this in his ranching area about 45 kilometres west of Prince Albert. The cattle producer and his family have to haul water to the pastures to make sure their animals have enough to drink. Other producers in the province have to do the same. "Our water supplies are dwindling very fast," said Balicki, who owns and operates the LB Ranch north of Shellbrook together with his family.