Birch Hills County has declared an Agriculture Disaster for hay and pasture production on August 26, 2025, due to low soil moisture reserves and a lack of precipitation during the growing season.
Livestock feed availability is extremely low due to lack of moisture as the pastures cannot sustain typical stocking rates. In addition to the moisture deficit, Birch Hills County is affected by grasshoppers exceeding thresholds throughout the County. These insects devastated the forages that were already under stress from lack of moisture, contributing significantly to pasture and hay loss.
Overall, our hay production yield was 10 – 25 percent of normal for the fields that could be harvested. Many fields did not produce enough to cut for winter feed. There is no regrowth for second cuts or fall grazing. This has affected 100% of the producers in our County. Our grazing associations will be pulling cattle from the grazing reserves by September 1st leaving those producers two months short for their typical grazing season. Several producers moved their heifers and will be moving other cattle out of the region to areas with better conditions but adding significant cost to their operations. All producers are expecting to start feeding early.
Winter feed is difficult to source; increased transportation costs and lower quality are all issues. This places additional strain on producers’ financial stability and mental health as they are forced to make complex decisions regarding herd reduction, future operations and the financial impacts that may result from a herd dispersal. We note that some producers have already started down this path.
Birch Hills County has experienced multiple years of low precipitation leaving our soil without moisture reserves. Although we had an average snowpack for the winter of 2024-2025, it was not enough to compensate for the soil moisture deficit from multiple years of low precipitation. In addition to low soil moisture reserves, there was little precipitation during the growing season. Some areas of the County received less than 2” of total precipitation throughout the growing season. Our current soil moisture, as plant available water to a depth of 120 cm is 10- 20mm, for most of our County with a small portion having 20-40mm. Available plant water is 50% of normal in BHC. Our growing season precipitation accumulations relative to normal are low (one in 6-12 years) and very low (one in 12-25 years) with the very low areas being the areas where many of our livestock producers are concentrated.
Birch Hills County has two ACIS weather stations within our County. One is in Peoria to the Southwest and the other in Eaglesham to the Northeast. The weather station in Eaglesham is reporting that it received 57.5% of normal accumulated precipitation from April 27, 2025, to August 25, 2025. The Peoria weather station reports that it received 55.1 % of normal precipitation from April 27, 2025, to August 25, 2025. This indicates that the precipitation shortfall affects our entire County.
In closing, we join other municipalities in the region in our concern for our producers as tame hay and pasture are in poor condition, bringing significant concern for the livestock industry. Specifically feed quality and availability through the fall and winter months. We urge both the Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada to recognize the seriousness of this situation and employ a coordinated approach to support this vital industry and its producers.
On behalf of producers, we requested that the Provincial and Federal Government implement all available assistance programs including the implementation of the AgriRecovery Program, including the inclusion of Birch Hills County in the prescribed area for the Livestock Tax Deferral provision, to mitigate the negative impact for our producers.
Birch Hills County recognizes that agriculture plays a vital role in our community. We are committed to working with all levels of government and stakeholders collaboratively to strengthen and support the agriculture industry.
For any additional assistance or support, producers are encouraged to reach out to our Agricultural Services Department at agfieldman@birchhillscouty.com, 780-694-3793, or 780-864-7567.