Cattle organisations in British Columbia and Alberta have joined forces to get feed and grazing to ranchers whose season has been wrecked by wildfire and drought. The BC Cattlemen's Association (BCCA) and Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) are extending BCCA's Access to Feed Program across the provincial line.

Alberta producers are being asked to help in one of three ways: supply feed that can be trucked to BC, offer pasture for cattle moved temporarily into Alberta, or open feedlot or drylot space for animals that may need to stay in Alberta through the winter. Fires, drought and poor forage growth have left parts of BC struggling to keep herds together and secure winter feed.

The programme is a matchmaker, not a broker. Access to Feed acts as a confidential point of contact that pairs producers in need with those who have something to offer; the two parties negotiate their own terms, and the details stay private. ABP says it is a chance for ranchers with spare resources to help their counterparts through an unusually hard year.

For BC producers the extra options could ease pressure on operations that have lost forage or been cut off by fire, letting them hold breeding stock rather than sell into a poor market. The two groups say wildfire has become a structural risk for the cattle sector, affecting grazing, feed supply, transport routes and everyday management decisions.

Producers on either side of the border can contact Access to Feed coordinator Greg Tegart by phone or text on 250-306-6277 or by email at hay@cattlemen.bc.ca, or through the Alberta Beef Producers website.

Photo: The Interior / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Source: Farms.com