Livestock producers considering compensation for incurring extraordinary costs related to feed and/or transportation last year, due to drought conditions, have two extra weeks to apply to the Canada-Saskatchewan Feed Program.

The provincial government announced Tuesday that the application deadline has been extended to March 15; that date would also apply to eligible expenses incurred from May 1, 2023 to now March 15, 2024. Eligible extraordinary expenses include purchased feed, self-hauling or transportation costs for feed or breeding animals, and/or land rented for additional grazing acres or additional feed production. Eligible animal species include beef cattle and other grazing animals, limited to bison, elk, deer, sheep, goats and horses. Receipts or other appropriate documents showing extraordinary expenses need to be submitted with the application; A Saskatchewan Premises Identification (PID) is also required to be eligible for the program, which covers up to 70 percent of costs.

It was also announced ten additional Rural Municipalities are included in the coverage area of the program. Those R.M.s are Sherwood, Bratt’s Lake, Lajord, Edenwold, Lumsden, South Qu’Appelle, North Qu’Appelle, Bayne, Rosthern, and Britannia.

“I know this area expansion and deadline extension for the 2023 Canada-Saskatchewan Feed Program is welcome news for producers across Saskatchewan,” Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay said. “We’ve also updated the designated regions for the 2023 Livestock Tax Deferral to help more folks who have been affected by drought and dry conditions.”

“We recognize the areas significantly impacted by drought this past fall and the importance in maximizing access to financial relief for livestock producers by expanding the area eligibility,” Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit said. “In addition, extending the deadline provides Saskatchewan producers an additional two weeks to review program details and submit their applications.”

Jeff Morrow, President and CEO of Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation, the entity administering the program, encourages producers who are outside the eligible area to apply anyway.

“We have a group of people that can help producers with any questions they have have on the program, help them through their application process.” Morrow said.

A breakdown of applications by region and for which livestock eligible under the program were not available, but Morrow noted much of the applications to date, over 1-thousand since the program was announced in August, have been for cattle.

“We know from talking to producers that some are assessing their full feed need, may still be buying more feed, so are waiting until they have a better picture of what that feed need is before they submit an application, so we do expect that number of applications to increase right up to the newly extended deadline of March the 15th.” Morrow added.

An online application form is available at scic.ca. A dedicated phone number is available at 1-844-723-1211, and an email address for inquiries: [email protected]