Emergency grazing support announced for evacuated livestock

The Province of Alberta has released emergency grazing options to support producers who have evacuated their livestock due to the ongoing wildfires.

The guidelines from the provincial government are as follows:

Under the provincial state of emergency, grazing disposition holders with grazing capacity can accept livestock from other producers subject to the following conditions:

• Grazing disposition holders remain responsible for stewardship of the disposition.
• Grazing disposition holders who accept other livestock must report the additional livestock on the lease within seven calendar days to their local rangeland agrologist.
• Grazing disposition holders must report any measures taken with respect to supplemental feeding within seven calendar days.
• The health of the rangeland must be maintained.
• The use by the other livestock must be reported on the dispositions holder’s stock return.

The province is also now accepting applications for temporary grazing on vacant public lands. More information is available by calling 310-LAND (5263).

In the meanwhile, the province states, “the best options to hold and feed livestock are rodeo grounds, exhibition grounds and auction markets, which have the needed infrastructure.”

Ranchers with additional grazing capacity are encouraged to apply to accept livestock from producers who have evacuated their livestock.

For more resources related to Alberta’s wildfires, please visit our Wildfire Resources webpage.

Evacuated farmers and ranchers with ag and livestock-related questions can contact the wildfire resource line at 310-4455 #abfires #abwildfire
Find out more: https://t.co/G8AUwTwRWc pic.twitter.com/ddf0UbP3zY

— Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation (@AlbertaAg) May 7, 2023