Edmonton – The governments of Canada and Alberta are expanding drought livestock assistance eligibility to help producers maintain breeding herds. The 2023 Canada-Alberta Drought Livestock Assistance initiative is expanding eligibility to 23 new regions and extending the application deadline. Funding for this joint AgriRecovery initiative is provided through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP).
Livestock producers in eligible regions who altered their usual grazing practices due to drought conditions for more than 21 days this season can apply for financial support to cover losses incurred to manage and maintain female breeding animals such as cattle, bison, horses, elk, sheep, goats, alpacas, yak, musk ox, deer, water buffalo and llamas. A minimum of 15 animals per type of livestock are required to qualify.
Funding for the new regions will open on January 29, 2024. Applicants in this intake may receive payments of up to $150 per head. The application deadline is February 22, 2024 and extraordinary costs can be incurred until March 31, 2024. This expansion also gives producers who were already eligible another opportunity to apply. Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) continues to administer the initiative. Livestock producers can get more information and apply by visiting AFSC’s website.
“Producers across Alberta faced significant challenges last season, so I’m glad we’ve been able to work with the Government of Alberta to expand this AgriRecovery initiative to 23 additional municipalities that were impacted by the drought. We’re also updating the designated regions for the 2023 Livestock Tax Deferral, to give more producers access to the support they need.” – Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food