Farm Crisis in the Interlake Region of Manitoba

Farms in the region near Arborg and Fisher Branch in the Interlake have been suffering badly this year with the excessive rainfall. Indeed, four municipalities, Fisher, Bifrost, Armstrong and Gimli have all declared disasters and called for provincial and federal government aid.

The situation is so bad, one farmer reported to me he had a muskrat building a house in his grain field. Some photos above help show the situation in the area with much water in the fields. Farmers like Les Jacobsen are using very wide tires, or multiple tires or even caterpillar tracks to drive their farm equipment in the fields. Brian Johnson, of Johnson seeds, deals with local farmers and hears of the problems every day.

The provincial NDP government has done all too little. There are major problems with cattail clogged provincial drains (bottom photo), and water management issues which have been poorly attended too.

Farmers in the area need better short term and long term solutions. For some farmers this is the third year in a row of problems. Existing safety net programs are good for one bad year, but by the time you have three bad years in a row, they do not do the job of adequately supporting farmers. Short term help is essential. As well, much better water management is needed in the area to cope with the wet weather and allow farmers to do well, even under wetter conditions.

Tomorrow, Saturday November 21, I will be meeting with farmers and others in the area at the Senior's Centre in Arborg at 1:00 p.m. It is a public forum and all are invited. I hope you can come.