Photo from the Devin Dreeshan Facebook page

By Curtis Galbraith

Agriculture

Agriculture Minister meets with Peace Country farmers

Jan 30, 2020 | 5:30 AM

Alberta’s Agriculture Minister met with a room full of farmers Saturday at the Dunes Golf and Winter Club.

Devin Dreeshen says there was a lot of discussion about the tough harvest.

“I just met with some that had about 17 per cent finished, actually completed, and a tremendous amount of crop still out under snow. So, to make sure that AFSC was doing everything it could to help farmers with cash flow situations.”

Dreeshen says there was a lot of support for going back to farmer-led agricultural research. He says many people feel it makes more sense to have farmer-led, rather than government-led, priorities.

The NDP government had done away with a couple of boards that worked in farmer-led research. Dreeshen says over 600 people have come out to in person-consultations on this, while another 1400 have sent in online submissions.

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The local farmers also got a chance to talk about surface rights and orphan wells.

Dreeshen says the government has heard and understands this is a growing issue around the province.

“Farmers are frustrated and people have heard about farmers wanting to take matters into their own hands or to shut off power or to do certain things to these wells and that’s obviously not proper, not right.”

Dreeshan says he encourages producers with concerns to go to the Surface Rights Board. He adds the government wants to work with industry and farmers to find solutions. He adds the best solution would be to get Alberta’s oilpatch going again.

We asked Minister Dreeshen if he heard anything here that he has not heard elsewhere in Alberta.

He says AFSC adjusters from other parts of the province have been coming to the Peace Country.

“That’s good to show that flexibility within AFSC, that adjusters and inspectors can actually go out to areas where there is high demand. So, that was something that was unique, specifically, to the area.”

Dreeshen says the evening also included some discussion about the forestry industry. That included how government can work with forestry companies to improve its image so it does not get demonized as has happened with other industries. He adds he wants to promote the work these companies do to manage Alberta’s public forests.

Dreeshen, who’s portfolio also includes forestry, adds the province has put $30-million into the fight against the spread of mountain pine beetle and has asked the federal government to contribute another $20-million, saying this is not an Alberta problem, but a Canadian one.

He adds the extreme cold will only slow the growth of mountain beetles, but that they need to be completely eradicated and that won’t come from cold weather alone.