Rain in recent weeks is a welcome sight to farmers in the Rainy River District.
They’ve suffered through dry conditions this past summer which left pastures dry and low-yielding fields.
Cattle farmer, Kim Jo Bliss, says fields are starting to green up and creeks are beginning to fill up, but they are still far from a full recovery.
“We’re a long way from being out of the woods. There are still dry dugouts, dry creeks, that that sort of thing. So we’re not quite out of it yet,” says Bliss.
The province has come through with financial support.
A temporary fund provided $2 million to offset the cost of feed and creating new pasture space.
Last week, the province’s Agriculture Minister Lisa Thompson visited to announce funding through the AgriRecovery program, a joint Ontario-Canada initiative to help farmers in need.
Bliss says it is welcomed news.
“But of course, we need to sift through the details, like what does that totally mean and how is it going to look like? How is it going to roll out?”
The province and the Beef Farmers of Ontario also helped facilitate about one-hundred truckloads of hay from southern Ontario.
“It’s just short-term hay. We would need about 8 to 12 of those bales to keep one cow for the winter. So it’s just short-term hay to keep our cows from leaving the district until things improve.”
Bliss says farmers are appreciative of the assistance received.
