Birch Hills County would like to humbly express our gratitude to those producers who have reached out and provided us with hay and pasture production data, which will aid Council in making a drought declaration easier than what the regional data indicated. 2025 has been a challenging year and we know that you are extremely busy.
On August 18, 2025, the Federal Government released the initial list of livestock tax deferral regions for 2025 (Minister MacDonald announces initial list of Livestock Tax Deferral regions for 2025 – Canada.ca). Birch Hills County is listed as a Prescribed Regional Buffer Zone. Buffer zones have been applied to capture impacted producers who are outside the boundaries of the prescribed regions but may be experiencing similar conditions. As a buffer zone, Birch Hills County producers are eligible to make a claim under the Livestock Tax Deferral Provision.
Additionally, BHC will continue to monitor crop yields from grain producers as harvest proceeds to determine what further actions may be required.
The information that was provided is invaluable to creating a factual response that Birch Hills County can use to advocate on your behalf. If you are interested in providing information on how the agroclimate has affected your operation directly to Agriculture Canada, there is an Agroclimatic Impacts Reporter Survey available on the Agriculture Canada website that reports monthly. This survey helps Agriculture Canada assess the agroclimatic impacts that producers are facing. It helps them gather information that may not be available from any other sources. The direct link to the survey is: Agroclimate Impact Reporter
