With 2023 having been another tough year for agricultural producers in this region and provincewide, many farm families and related agri-businesses are no doubt hoping for better times in 2024.
Yet with ongoing challenges ranging from drought to high fuel costs to steeply climbing land prices, Alberta’s vital agricultural community may continue facing stiff headwinds over the next 12 months.
Hopefully those in positions to help will do whatever they can to move things forward.
For his part, Minister of Agriculture R.J. Sigurdson said in his New Year’s message that the UPC government is committed to supporting and promoting the agriculture industry going forward.
“As we enter 2024, I encourage all Albertans to show appreciation for our province’s hard-working agriculture industry and to remember it’s as simple as no farms, no food,” said Sigurdson.
“Our agriculture industry works year-round to put food on tables around the world. Their dedication and hard work produce the safe, high-quality food that we enjoy. Alberta’s farmers and ranchers work tirelessly to feed our communities.”
Sigurdson is right when he highlights the vital importance of the province’s agriculture producers, both on an economic level and for the community-at-large.
Lifetime farmer and rancher Brian Rodger was recently re-elected to a fourth term as chairman of the Mountain View County agricultural service board. He says one of the ongoing challenges facing agricultural producers in this region and elsewhere in the province is the high cost of energy used on farms and ranches.
“It’s a cost that keeps being multiplied on and on as we go up and down the chain,” Rodger said. “The consumer is the guy that ends up paying for it. How many times do you have to pay for it?
“In our minds, as agriculture producers, it looks like we are getting more and more costs than we should, the added costs.”
If the UCP is serious about supporting Alberta’s agriculture industry, as Minister Sigurdson claims, then the government should act now to reduce agriculture production fuel costs.
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
