Office of the Premier
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries has a dedicated team of staff working closely with the B.C. ranching and livestock industry during emergencies like drought and wildfires.
Ministry specialists are continuing to monitor the impacts of the losses, and depending on the extent of damages, are looking at what forms of support may be needed.
Ranchers in the province are resilient by nature, and the B.C. government is there to support them and their animals. The ministry is in close contact with B.C. ranchers and local cattlemen associations to ensure support extends into every area of their business.
Supports offered by the Province:
- Under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (a five-year, $3-billion federal, provincial and territorial investment to strengthen the agriculture sector), producers can access a robust suite of Business Risk Management (BRM) programs to help manage significant risks that threaten the viability of their farm or are beyond their capacity to manage.
- AgriStability provides support when producers experience a large margin decline: https://afsc.ca/income-stabilization/agristability/
- AgriInvest provides cash flow to help producers manage income declines: https://agriculture.canada.ca/en/agricultural-programs-and-services/agriinvest
- AgriInsurance provides cost-shared insurance against natural hazards to reduce the financial impact of production or asset losses: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/programs/redirect-production-insurance
- The Western Livestock Price Insurance program also plays an important role in the BRM suite: https://lpi.ca/
- The Agriculture Wildlife Program provides compensation to cattle producers for losses to forage crops and predation of livestock caused by designated wildlife:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/programs/crop-loss-damage-due-to-wildlife
- The B.C. government supports the ranching industry through climate adaptation programs and funding for wildfires, floods and regional adaptation strategies, which are designed to help farmers and ranchers adapt to climate change that can include maintaining and enhancing water infrastructure for irrigation and livestock watering.
- Ranchers can access support for wildfires through the Livestock and Forage for Wildfire Risk Reduction program ($580,000 over four years) and Wildfire Preparedness Resources and Workshops held throughout the province ($300,000 over three years).
Additional emergency management resources for ranchers:
Emergency Management for Agriculture: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/business-market-development/emergency-management
Emergency Response Planning for producers and agricultural associations:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/business-market-development/emergency-management/emergency-response-planning
Premises ID information and registration: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/programs/premises-id
Emergency Preparedness Factsheet for livestock producers:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/agriculture-and-seafood/farm-management/emergency-management/factsheets/900_200-3_emergency_preparedness.pdf
Information on resources available for the relocation of livestock:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/business-market-development/emergency-management/livestock-relocation
Farm/Ranch Wildfire Guide and Workbook: https://www.climateagriculturebc.ca/library/farm-ranch-wildfire-plan-guide-and-workbook/
