{"id":312651,"date":"2025-11-28T17:09:35","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T17:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/312651\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T17:09:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T17:09:35","slug":"producers-say-75-of-southwest-sask-farms-may-disappear-if-drought-conditions-persist-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/312651\/","title":{"rendered":"Producers say 75% of southwest Sask. farms may disappear if drought conditions persist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Farmers and leaders in southwest Saskatchewan say the province is running out of time to prevent a widespread collapse of local agriculture<\/a>, warning that many farms in the region could disappear if drought conditions continue<\/a> and support programs are not strengthened.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our area, it could be 50 to 75 per cent of farms gone,\u201d Tyson Jacksteit, who farms near the RM of Big Stick, said at a recent news conference, speaking alongside other producers from the area.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

The renewed warning builds on concerns shared during the summer, when producers described cracked soil, failed crops, exhausted crop-insurance guarantees and rising stress after nearly a decade of drought. By early July, RM councillors publicly criticized the provincial government<\/a> for what they called slow action and inadequate support, saying operating costs and other pressures had surged even as yields dwindled.<\/p>\n

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck<\/a> said the government has failed to respond to what she called a dire situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are farms that have been proudly built by families for generations, and now they stand to lose everything,\u201d Beck said. \u201cSupport is needed now.\u201d<\/p>\n

NDP agriculture critic Trent Wotherspoon said producers have been \u201cleft high and dry,\u201d despite repeated calls for help from municipalities and farm groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe devastation and loss after nine years of drought is really hard to fathom,\u201d he said. \u201cThese producers shouldn\u2019t be left to weather this alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quinton Jacksteit, reeve of the RM of Big Stick and Tyson Jacksteit\u2019s brother, said existing provincial programs were never designed for a drought of this length.<\/p>\n

\"Quinton<\/a><\/p>\n

Quinton Jacksteit, reeve of the RM of Big Stick, says producers are calling for urgent support, as existing programs were not designed for a long-term drought. (Jacob Bamhour\/980 CJME)<\/p>\n

\u201cOur insurance programs were built for maybe two or three years of drought, but they were not built for these kinds of extremes,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re asking for insurance programs that are fair, so that we can buy enough insurance to sustain our farms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly Bakanec, a representative for the RM of Fox Valley, said some farmers in the region are working second jobs to stay afloat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take pride in helping feed the world,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not here begging for handouts, but we\u2019re at the point where we need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kalin Deis, a young farmer working in the southwest, said equipment costs, chemical resistance and repeated crop failures are pushing his generation out.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s the make-or-break year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The concerns reached Question Period, where Premier Scott Moe defended the province\u2019s approach. The premier said existing risk-management programs \u201care being adjusted from time to time,\u201d and pointing to billions in coverage and payouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that this program does support producers in our province,\u201d Moe said, though he noted that agriculture remains largely dependent on weather.<\/p>\n

Opposition MLAs rejected that response, arguing that the programs no longer function for the hardest-hit regions, arguing drought cannot be treated as temporary after nine years without recovery.<\/p>\n

Following Question Period, Jeff Morrow, president and CEO of Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation, said \u201cyield cushioning\u201d remains the key support tool for producers facing consecutive low yields. However, confirmed coverage still drops over extended drought cycles.<\/p>\n

Producers said that January, when next year\u2019s crop insurance guarantees are set, leaves little time to act.<\/p>\n

For many in the RM of Big Stick and surrounding areas, the question is no longer about a challenging year, but whether farms, communities and family legacies survive at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Farmers and leaders in southwest Saskatchewan say the province is running out of time to prevent a widespread…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-312651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}