JULY 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Water tops list of ranchers’ concerns at AGM Government uncertainty means a range of issues remain in limbo


by DAVID SCHMIDT KAMLOOPS – Water


continues to be a major issue for BC ranchers. The topic dominated discussions at the BC Cattlemen’s Association annual meeting in Kamloops, May 26, with general manager Kevin Boon noting it has been “one of our biggest issues in the past few years.” BCCA president Brian


McKersie called the extension of the no fee for groundwater licensing until the end of 2017 “one of our accomplishments,” but noted little headway has been made in registering wells and even less on developing regulations regarding livestock watering. “There is a lot of work left to do,” McKersie said. Normally, some of that


work would get done at the AGM as ranchers would lobby the Minister of Agriculture and/or other ministers and senior government bureaucrats in attendance. However, that was not the case this year as no provincial MLAs showed up. Because of the


government “kerfuffle” flowing from an election that left the BC Liberals with a minority, McKersie told ranchers “not much is getting done.” As a result, Boon says no


one knows when issues of concern to cattlemen, including livestock watering and waste management regulations, will be completed, although he expects something by this fall.


McKersie said the BCCA is


working with the BC Ministry of Environment to “ensure the new regulations align with the beef industry requirements.” Cattlemen want exemptions from licensing for dugouts below a certain size and for off-site water troughs, direct access to a watercourse in grazing areas and temporary livestock holding areas, as well as assurances that livestock will continue to have access to drinking water during a drought or other shortage. BCCA also passed several


resolutions regarding the issue. One asks government not to charge license fees for water that cattle consume outside confined livestock areas, while the other lists a series of actions intended to improve the well licensing process. They include providing enhanced professional development for FrontCounter BC staff, reducing the required


information to only basic needs and to redesign the online application to make it more user-friendly. Last fall, the BCCA brought


government bureaucrats to the field to demonstrate some of the issues. That included showing them how dams are used to not only benefit ranchers but the public and fishermen as well. “We have a pilot project


underway and hope to spread it province-wide,” McKersie said, with Boon adding that dams are key to climate adaptation. “In the future, we will either have too much water or not enough so it is important to have more water storage so we are able to manage the water,” he said. Noting the 2009 ranching


task force report called for “secure access to water that will meet the needs of livestock on range and private land,” water subcommittee chair Linda Allison said, “that’s the premise I’m still working on.” Only 1,114 groundwater license applications had been completed by the end of May, a fraction of the 20,000 wells the MoE estimates need to be registered. Worse, only 75 applications had been approved. “That’s absolute crap!” Allison exclaimed, railing at the slow pace of approvals. She urged ranchers to


“complain to your MLA,” saying “the people in FrontCounter BC (who process the applications) do not understand agriculture and stock watering.”


Check-off ready Possibly the hardest-


working BCCA director, Allison also chairs the BC Cattle Industry Development Council and the Canadian Beef Check-off Agency. She noted all four sectors of the BC cattle industry, including dairy, have approved the new $5 provincial and national check-off, and it will be implemented beginning September 1. Half the check- off will stay with the CIDC while the balance will go to the national agency. Because fewer animals


were marketed last year, last year’s levies were down 5% from 2015 but the CIDC was


still able to provide over $700,000 in funding for the four provincial associations. “We get along very well with the BC dairy industry, which is unique in Canada,” Allison said. BC currently remits $1 per head to the national agency, specifying that 10% goes to the Beef Cattle Research Council and 90% to Canada Beef for domestic and international marketing. Allison said the CIDC is considering whether to change that ratio once the check-off goes up to $2.50 per head, adding it could also decide to allocate some money to a new option: issues management.


Packing plant update Ranchers were also told the


BCCA is close to releasing its business plan for establishing a federally inspected packing plant in the Prince George area. “It’s more positive than I thought it would be,” Boon said, noting it will need buy-in


from all parts of the industry, as a new packing plant will only succeed if a feeding industry is created to support it.


Boon praised BCCA’s new


livestock protection program co-ordinated by former BCCA director Mark Grafton. Established in January 2016 to replace the program run by the Conservation Officer Service the previous four years, the new program processes compensation claims for all predators and helps conservation officers with verifications. Grafton said the program has contracted about 50 wildlife specialists to work throughout the province, excluding Vancouver Island. By the end of March, it had completed 407 verifications for cattle and sheep that were killed, injured or harassed. The program has been so well used, it exceeded its funding last year and the same thing could happen this year. Grafton noted the program opened 181 files in the first


five months of 2017, compared to just 78 in the first five months of 2016. Ranchers also used the meeting to pass resolutions regarding premises ID (standardize it), cattle rustling (increase the reward to $5,000), carbon sequestration (pay producers for it), private land access (limit public access), the resource restoration program (retain it) and Crown range maintenance (protect range infrastructure and fund reseeding of disturbed Crown range tenures). BCCA also amended its constitution to clean up wording and conform to the new Societies Act.


Board changes


There were only two changes to the BCCA board of directors. Judy Madden of Dawson Creek took over the position vacated by her spouse, Mike McConnell, while Jon Solecki of Burns Lake was elected to replace Bob Storey as the Skeena area director.


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