NEWS FILE PHOTO Southeast Alberta is again on an initial list of regions where the federal government is offering tax deferrals to help cattle producers deal with drought.
Southeast Alberta is again on an initial list of regions where the federal government is offering tax deferrals to help cattle producers deal with drought.
It marks the fourth straight year local ranchers would be able to take part in the program, which allows sales to be pushed to following year. That allows ranchers to better absorb the tax effects of reducing herds rather than buying feed to augment poor pasture grazing conditions.
To qualify, forage yields must be less than half the long-term average as a result of drought or flooding in a particular year.
Applicants must have reduced breeding herds by at least 15 per cent, and defer from 30 to 90 per cent of the income realized pushed into the next business year.
The initial 2019 list of affected areas, released Monday by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, shows for the second straight year a region stretching from along the southern prairies, from Calgary to the Ontario boundary, as well as northern British Columbia and parts of eastern Quebec.
In Alberta, areas are all those south and east of Calgary as well as the peace region in Northwest Alberta.
In Saskatchewan, it includes all rural municipalities south of Saskatoon.
Cypress County has been included in each year since 2016. Other specific counties in Alberta this year also include, Forty Mile, Newell, and the Special Areas, as well as Cardston, Lethbridge, Taber, Warner and Wheatland counties.
