Agricultural disaster announced for Cypress County

Cypress County has become the latest region to declare an agricultural state of disaster.

The county joins Vulcan, Stettler, Foothills and Paintearth as the latest casualties.

Lisa Sulz, the agricultural supervisor with Cypress County say the situation is dire for farmers in the area and this is the third year in a row they have had to declare an ag disaster.

“Our native grasses didn’t even really come out of dormancy, so there’s limited feed for animals and hay and crops and that sort of thing are struggling, so we hear. The seed was planted in the spring, obviously, but there was no moisture to even germinate the seed. So inputs are high, and when it doesn’t grow, obviously there’s nothing to harvest and that sort of thing. It’s a struggle here for people, for sure.”

Officials with the county told us estimated soil moisture in the region compared to the long term normal is rated moderately low to as low as it’s been in over 50 years.