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Founded in 1909, UFA Co-operative Limited is an Alberta-based agricultural co-operative with more than 125,000 member-owners. UFA’s network comprises more than 121 bulk fuel and Cardlock Petroleum locations, 35 Farm & Ranch Supply stores and a support office in Calgary, AB. Independent Petroleum Agents and over 1,200 UFA employees provide products, services and agricultural solutions to farmers, ranchers, members and commercial customers in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.
takes a certain kind of ambition to do what farmers do.
Between the hours and the hard labor, to the public scrutiny and bureaucratic maze
running, it's not an easy task.
While the agricultural industry feeds millions, quietly tilling and producing behind the
scenes, many forget that our food comes from the hands of real people with real stories.
Join us as we share stories from those with boots on the ground and unearth unique
perspectives on agriculture's biggest conversations.
It's time to grab your shovel and get to work.
I'm Don Schaffer and this is Digging In with UFA.
Canadian farmers are navigating significant uncertainty.
From market volatility and trade pressures to a changing environmental landscape,
supporting the agriculture sector during this period requires practical, science-based
solutions that reflect realities on the ground.
On the prairies, one of the most immediate challenges has been a surge in Richardson
ground squirrel populations, causing multi-million dollar damages to crops, pasture, and
farmland.
In response, the Government of Canada has authorized a tightly controlled, time-limited
emergency registration of strychnine for use in Alberta and Saskatchewan through November
2027.
This decision sits with the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, or PMRA, the federal body
responsible for evaluating and regulating crop protection products to protect human and
environmental health, while ensuring farmers have access to effective tools.
The emergency approval follows a revised Joint
request from both provinces and includes added restrictions, mitigation measures, and
enhanced stewardship requirements.
But for farmers, temporary approvals also raise bigger questions about long-term
certainty.
Today, we're digging into what this decision means on the ground.
Why gopher pressure has become such a serious threat, how emergency tools fit into
Canada's regulatory system, and why organizations like
The UFA Cooperative continue to advocate for science-based decisions and regulatory
clarity beyond 2027 to support farmers, food security, and the Canadian economy.
When we're talking about who's affected most by restrictive legislative practices in
agriculture, we're talking about those with boots on the ground.
The ranchers and producers who spend their days on those vast acres from sunup to sundown.
It's fair to say that a family with generations on the land knows a thing or two about how
to take care of that land.
For a little insight on exactly what's going on with the Gopher situation, this is Wade
Nelson.
He and his wife are owner-operators of Highwood Valley Ranch, just south of Calgary.
They tend to about 1500 acres of grain, 700 acres of grass and a little direct market beef
in a mixed farm operation.
It's a cyclical problem that comes and goes.
think it goes with the climate at the time.
I mean, I remember when I was a little kid in the 80s, it being a real problem when it was
really dry and then it kind of dissipates.
And but I mean, in the last few years, it's been really bad.
just unfortunately coincided with the PMRI taking away our access to Strick-9.
So it took a really major tool away from us.
It's not something, at least on our firm, that we would use every year or even on every
field every year.
But it was something we had in these dry years that we know was effective and could really
solve the problem quickly.
And it's been quite bad here with our drought.
up until hopefully just the last few springs here.
And even last spring, at the beginning, we were D3.
We were no discernible moisture for three feet.
And I think that gives the gopher population a real opportunity to explode.
And a few years ago, I lost 170 acres of canola that was, it was seeded and then it never
even germinated.
I actually phoned one of their farmers and said, stuff isn't germinating.
Like what's going on?
And we started digging and couldn't find any seed.
And I mean, misery loves company because then when I get AFSC out to check it and insure
it and I think I'm the only guy around, he's still, oh you're the fifth guy this week that
we've had to do some sort of insurance claim on.
That's when I was like, this is bad and we got to get after this.
And then it was that year that we lost Strip9.
So it was really no way to attack that problem.
Like I say, it's a cyclical problem, but having that access to Strip9 is so important
before we get to this battle problem.
The AFSC stands for Agriculture Financial Services Corporation.
And it's an Alberta-based company that works with farmers and agribusinesses to provide
risk management plans and insurance for livestock prices and farm income stabilization.
Though it's important to recognize potential long-term dangers within the agricultural
sector, it's also important to understand that farmers can responsibly use and maintain a
product like strychnine as they've done for many years.
We always, I mean, it's like any chemical or any pesticide on anyone's operation.
We treated it with a lot of respect.
It's a dangerous product.
And so it was always something that from when I was a little kid, you did not muck around
with.
And I mean, as far as how it's been the last quite a few years, our access to it, it's not
like we can run down to UFA and buy a can of strychnine.
We have to go through the county.
The county has access.
They're the only ones that have access to 2%.
And then you needed to fill out a form that proved it was necessary that you were a
landowner and follow the rules on how to actually use the product and which we've done.
We've done that because we know it actually helps make it more effective.
If you're putting that poison down the hole, covering that hole and moving on, you're
doing that correctly.
That's the safest way to handle that product and get it down to that gopher and limits the
chance of that grain getting into a hawk or an eagle or another bird picking it up.
It's down that hole.
because it's so effective that gopher never has a chance to come back up again.
So we have used it to the best standards that we can.
And I would say, I mean, we have an inordinate amount of birds of prey around us.
right in the Highwood Valley.
It's not uncommon for me to see 25 to 30 eagles in a day.
We kind of stretch for about two and a half miles along the Highwood River Valley.
And I've never seen a dead bird out in the field that I could attribute to some sort of.
poison.
I've seen dead birds below power poles quite often, but never something that you could
attribute to that.
So yeah, I mean, we've been trying to use it as, as safely and when we don't need to use
it, we don't use it.
It's not like we're out there no matter what.
In an attempt to curb the use of strychnine across Canada, assumptions are made about how
effective other similar products are during heavily destructive periods like the one we're
seeing today.
But when the ground squirrel problem
is as difficult as it's become.
It's tough to bet on anything other than the product that's proven successful, especially
when the stakes are high and it's not just your crops being damaged.
We had some success with that zinc phosphide.
I think it's all in when you use the product.
It seems like it's not as attractive.
And I've had guys tell me that it doesn't work.
The Roazol is another product.
And I had one border section that I rent that the retired owner is a fanatic.
He on his own dime.
spent a lot of money and bought a lot of Rose All and I think it did have an effect but it
was every other day a full-time job for him to be doing that filling bait stations on less
than a quarter section of land.
It was just wasn't something that I could take the time to do especially not on on say my
whole operation.
So there has been some limited success and I've seen a bit of data come out that Rose All
is by far the most expensive and least effective.
and phosphatoxin or zinc phosphite does work but it's nothing compared to strychnine.
Again, I think that's why we just we need access to this product as long as we're using it
safely.
We have a more unique gopher issue because we do have cattle, we do grow quite a bit of
hay as well and so we have pasture and then we have farmland and pasture and that's where
those gophers can really populate is in those pasture areas.
But as far as my example of what happened to me where I had canola gone before it even had
a chance to
to germinate, that was a huge expense.
I mean, that cost a lot of money, not only in my input, but then in my opportunity cost
that I lost there as well.
But anyone running a combine is going to tell you that they're not a fan of running over
gopher holes and it does wear and tear.
And these guys now, and we don't do our own combining, we get it custom done.
I mean, when you're running a 30 foot header, flex header, that's a quarter of a million
dollar machine.
Just that header alone.
If you're going to strike rocks or eat a rock because gophers have brought that up, that's
a huge cost.
As far as animals, mean, yeah, I remember a friend, we went for a ride in the hills and we
looked across an open pasture area and this kid said, geez, I've never done that before.
I said, well, why?
He said, well, at home we can't run our horses because there's too many gopher holes and
they run the risk of breaking a leg and it can happen and it has happened for sure.
Between the generations of experience on the land and the ability to enact change on a
municipal level, it takes time, heart, and a good deal of grit to be so involved.
Without involvement comes the ability to make systemic change in your community.
When you come from such a connected network, you know firsthand what needs to get done and
what needs to change.
To show us how, this is Jason Schneider.
I wear a few different hats and depending on the day, but I'm a owner operator of a fourth
generation grain farm here in Vulcan County.
Myself, my wife are the owners.
I'm fourth generation.
She's sixth generation agriculture here in the province.
So definitely have some deep roots when it comes to farming.
I don't really like free time apparently because I also sit on Vulcan County council.
I've done that since 2013 and I've been the Reeves since 2016 here.
I definitely keep busy with that and then.
Once again, I'm a sucker for punishment, so I also do sit on the rural municipalities of
Alberta Board as the vice president.
And that's the association of all 69 rural and specialized municipalities in the province.
So it's a unique perspective that I end up getting just being a agriculture producer.
I get to see it at the local level here at Vulcan County, and then also at a provincial
level up with the RMA.
So it definitely keeps me busy and keeps me out of trouble, but it's been a rewarding
experience so far.
I don't like free time.
It's these busy times of the season when you're trying to seed or harvest or all those
busy times on the farm where I'm running off to meetings or taking calls on the tractor,
but it's all good.
For farmers and ranchers, gophers can be a big problem.
Between root destruction, soil stability and livestock health, it's an issue that runs
rampant across municipalities and provinces, especially without an effective tool for
mitigation.
Yeah, so obviously as municipality, we run the Agriculture Services Board on behalf of the
province.
So we get to go out and make sure that everything's running smoothly when it comes to
agriculture, making sure, you know, that the Wheat Protection Act's being followed and all
of that.
So yeah, we hear from our farmers and the ranchers quite regularly on the Strict 9 issue.
And obviously we also, on the last go round, Strict 9, the municipalities through the
Agriculture Services Board were the ones that were able to actually procure the Strict 9
and then make sure that ranchers and farmers were using it responsibly.
making sure that we weren't gonna get ourselves into any issues with it and then making
sure that everybody was educated and knowing kind of what the product is and what the
product isn't.
So we've been pretty involved with that and as soon as those stockpiles disappeared and we
weren't able to procure anymore, we heard it pretty loud and clear from our producers in
Vulcan County that this was a tool in their toolbox, they really needed it.
There really wasn't anything that we could find that was actually as efficient.
There's other products that if you get the timing right or if you have the time.
You can use them, but we've tried everything.
Our agriculture services boards have tried all sorts of contraptions and inventions to try
to do this, but we really have not found anything that works in real life and works in the
real scenarios that our farmers are facing like strict 9-AS.
From an infrastructure perspective, it's not as dramatic as it is to the agriculture
producers.
We definitely see them migrating into the ditches and burrowing under roads and causing
minor damage like that.
But it really, it's more from the agriculture side where we just see.
When you represent a big area, I Balkan County is, you know, 1.3 million acres.
So it's a big area.
When you start to see, you know, some of these hotspots where gophers have just got
completely out of control, really kind of gives you that perspective of just how big it
is.
think based on our agriculture fieldmen going out there and just doing surveys to try to,
you know, quantify how big this issue is, we figured in 2024, we were at least about
15,000 acres that was lost in the county due to gopher infestations, which...
That's a big number and we're one of 69 municipalities.
So when you start to extrapolate that data, it is a big, big, big issue.
national ban on strychnine has left producers on temporary measures, even during brief
reinstatements.
But these stopgap solutions are just that, a short-term fix and a long-term problem.
Without proper pest control, the issue compounds year after year, growing more severe, the
longer it's only partially addressed.
Relying on temporary fixes may slow the impact, but it doesn't solve the problem.
and over time, it pushes us closer to a point where the situation becomes unsustainable.
Well, this issue doesn't go away.
Every year that you don't address it, they just come back worse every single year.
It's one of those rodents that they multiply pretty quickly.
And when you have a couple dry years in a row, you really start to see that snowballing
effect.
And it hasn't been really great for agriculture in southern Alberta here in the last 10
years.
mean, we've had a lot of years of pretty good drought situations where
That's where we really see this problem getting bigger and bigger.
know, the first dry year, you know, you see them around and, you know, you can kind of try
to keep on top of them.
But it's usually after a couple of years of drought in a row that you really start to see
these widespread areas where guys are losing 40, 50, 60 acres in one area just because
they've got so out of control.
We go and talk with all the other municipalities and we hear from them and we're all kind
of in the same boat where it's really just the amount of acres that their agriculture
producers are losing.
and the cost associated with that.
When you start to look at just Alberta loan, those numbers get big.
mean, if you calculate out your 15,000 acres especially, I mean, we do have a fair amount
of irrigation, our acres under irrigation in the county as well.
when you figure out your loss of production, your cost of inputs and all of those things,
mean, our municipality loan is well over $7 million is what we would estimate our losses
to be.
You times that by 69.
you know, every municipality might be, you know, have two different mounts, but I mean,
that number gets really big and then, you know, you go across the border to Saskatchewan
and I mean, it's a big issue there as well.
And so when you really start to think about the economic impacts of this issue, it's
substantial and it's a tough one to quantify because every year is a little bit different,
but I think probably what really started to make that impact is when all these
municipalities were coming up with numbers and trying to get the data.
When you start to see across Western Canada.
is a very, very big economic impact that we're seeing as a result of losing a tool like
Strict9.
In November of 2027, the temporary legalization of Strict9 will end and folks on the farm
will have to attempt previously unreliable methods, going back to the best that's
available, even when the best is proven inadequate.
Though farmers and ranchers are at their core, resilient and adaptable, resiliency can
only get you so far if you're not allowed to use the correct tools.
Strictly something, I mean, I don't know, Jason, you've probably, we've been using it for
what, 100 years, right?
So it's a product that we know that works.
So then when we're throwing something, well, you can't do that anymore.
And there's really no alternative.
We think there might be a few of these different products.
It just makes people upset because we've kind of got a system in place that we know works.
When you throw a curve ball at us like that, it is just totally unnecessary.
And there really was no offer of, we found this new thing out.
Why don't you use this?
mean, people have been, I mean, we bought a Rordinator.
don't know, Jason, did you ever try one of those Rordinators out?
Yeah, there was definitely a few of them popped up in the county.
We've tried all the machines like, you know, the ones that use the mustard foam and it's
just time consuming.
That's right.
So this is something that we know that works, but I mean, that Rordinator is a scary tool.
Basically making a bomb in the earth, right?
It's like, it's crazy.
Yeah.
And I think farmers are so resilient that if there was another product that was working,
farmers would be moving to that product very quickly because anything that can give you
better control of gophers, people would be jumping all over it.
And usually, uh I think that was one of the things that was really frustrating was that
narrative coming back from the federal government and even the provincial government at
times is like, well, there's other products that just, you know, just use those.
And it's like, well, you're not the one that has to, you have to use these products.
And believe me, we've tried everything.
And really when you have that one tool that is just so much more effective and you have a
way wider window of application and you get it.
taken away, it's a big shock to people.
And I think that, you know, probably a lot of the data also showed, you know, after that
first year of banning Strychnine, you know, we didn't, we didn't see the big issues, but
now that we're three, four or five years down the road, that's when we really started to
see a compounding impact.
And really in order to kind of get caught back up again and actually get some of these
spots under control, really the only tool that is effective enough is Strychnine.
So it was definitely pretty happy to see that it came back.
mean,
I feel like I've talked about strict time my entire time on council.
It's like we had it, but we were getting threatened to take it away and then it was taken
away.
And so then we're trying to get it back.
And it was just like, yeah, boy, this has been a long road trying to get it back.
it's like, well, what do you guys know?
And it's like, because I've lost canola to the grovers.
Like, know, like I'm not just making this stuff up.
Let's get in the truck and go look at it.
You know, when the decision makers are sitting at a desk in Ottawa, you just can't
comprehend it.
But when you actually, you know, drive out into that field and you just see how bad it is.
that's when you start to really get a perspective of why farmers are talking about it, why
farmers aren't letting up on this because we just have not been able to find that
replacement.
And I would say this time around, it was kind of surprising it came back.
I mean, it seemed to be at every indication.
I mean, I made a trip out to Ottawa to go talk about strychnine and, you know, everybody
agreed with us that gophers were a problem.
but nobody really wanted to actually be the one to push something forward.
So it was a little bit unexpected that we actually got this emergency approval.
You know, now it's not permanent by any means.
I believe it runs out at the end of next year, at the end of 2027.
And, you know, once again, just showing, you know, that maybe the decision makers are a
little bit out of touch with what's going on on the ground.
It sounds like by the time we actually get it into the hands of municipalities, it's going
to be June, which if anybody's ever had to go try to take care of gophers.
June is not the time to do it.
It's right now.
It's April in the first couple of weeks of May.
And if you're not applying it and you're not actually doing it then, you're lost.
Because I mean, once the crops out of the ground, they're going to eat those small plants.
And so unfortunately, it seems like this year it's going to be a little bit of a loss.
But at least for next year, we can at least try to get caught up and hopefully calm and
say the sense prevails and the decision makers extend that going forward.
Well, I don't think there was any real watershed moment that made them make Strickland
illegal.
Like it wasn't like something dramatic, terrible happened where I heard a horses or
something.
Like it was just, yeah, no, trick man's illegal again.
And you're like, well, why?
Well, because it's a poison and it's bad.
Well, yeah, well, I mean, we know it's a pesticide.
Of course it's dangerous.
And even I've seen some of the pushback is like, well, it's going to kill birds.
Well, I don't know of any hard data that shows, you know, or even vet.
clinics that say, if you're using strychnine in our area, we see X amount more animals
coming in, pets or something like that.
I haven't seen any of that other than for people to have this kind of emotional reaction
saying, strychnine is dangerous, it's poisonous, we shouldn't use it, period.
And that's just not for us.
Like you say, Jason, for us on the ground that have seen the effects, it's like, no, we
need this product to manage this problem.
Yeah, it's really been an emotional and a political discussion as opposed to a practical
discussion.
And that's the frustrating thing is it's not a lot of decisions really based on science or
based on actual use.
was all, yeah, well, it's a poison, you you can't be poisoning rodents and but on the
ground.
mean, yeah, believe me, hey, if I don't have to use strychnine, that's a pretty good year.
Like, I don't want to be using it either.
But it is really the only option to actually, you know, get these issues under control.
When it comes to bureaucracy.
Sweeping generalizations and restrictions can sound like decision-making based on a
general lack of trust.
Of course, with the improper handling of dangerous chemicals like strychnine, there's
always a chance of worst-case scenario.
Just like with the dangers of agricultural heavy machinery or dealing with high-voltage
electrical technology, there are risks that are understood and carefully prepared for
every single day.
Instead of a broad-stroke decision-making process,
What if we added some nuance?
We understand that with the right set of guidelines in place, capable farmers and ranchers
can safely and effectively do the jobs they've done for decades.
It's just, I think it's just another one of these issues where I think the decision makers
are pretty disconnected from what actually is happening in agriculture.
And I think they were sold a bill of goods of, well, there's other options.
So mean, like farmers will be fine.
There's other options.
You could have figured that one out pretty quick if you picked up the phone and talked to
a few farmers because I'll try anything when it comes to agriculture.
Like I'm willing to try it.
Like if there's a new product, let's give her a shot.
But it's just that disconnect between agriculture and decision makers.
I mean, it's bad at the province.
It's even worse at the federal level.
And so it really was an emotional thing as opposed to a scientific.
And that was the frustrating thing is it was really trying to we've been trying to educate
people for years and years.
Like I said, I went to Ottawa and I sat with people and I told them how bad it was.
but it's really hard to comprehend that when you're not actually actively in agriculture.
You just kind of figure, okay, well, it is what it is.
We will find a different product, don't worry.
But the reality was there just wasn't anything coming down the pipe.
I think it's really just that these are dangerous products, right?
mean, it is a poison.
Nobody's debating that fact.
I mean, it's the same thing when we talk about herbicide use.
I think it's that...
you know, it's this big scary thing and people just don't realize, you know, that farmers
are pretty careful with all of this stuff because I mean, this is land.
If you screw it up, you're trouble, right?
So I mean, I just don't think that people realize just how much farmers are invested in
the land and they want to make sure that they're making the best decisions.
They're not overusing products.
We all understand that if you use something too much, you know, efficacy goes down, right?
It doesn't work as well if you keep using it over and over and over again.
And I think that's just where...
When you're not in agriculture, you just don't understand that farmers are trying to make
the best decisions and they're trying to do what's best for the land because, you know,
they're going to have it for generations, right?
It's, this isn't just a quick decision, you know, try to make as much money all at once.
It's, know, we're looking down the road.
And so that's where I just think we just have a huge disconnect between, you know, that
urban and rural population.
think we as farmers in agriculture, we have an enormous amount of equity with the
community and with kind of your common average person.
And I think on the whole, if this kind of conversation was presented to someone on the
street, say this is what farmers want, we need this product, we're going to use it safely,
they go, okay, fine.
think it's organizations like PMRA or these bureaucratic entities that they want to try
and control things.
And so it's just on the list.
So it came down the pipe.
Okay, next up, strip nine, let's make it illegal.
They don't have to think about the repercussions.
of what taking that product away is going to be that's not in their operating procedures.
It's like, this is dangerous.
It's hard to get.
We just are going to make it illegal.
So it doesn't have any effect.
The effect that it has on us has no effect on them.
So that's the disconnect.
And we need to find some way to create some accountability in these entities that I don't
think they have any real, you know, there's a real disconnect.
And it's not really their fault.
It's just that
That's not one of the things that the lenses that they have to look through when they're
making decisions is how is this going to affect the end user?
They don't even have to really come up with any sort of explanation other than to say it's
illegal now, find something else.
And so that's a real problem.
But I think the average consumer, the average Obert and Canadian, they understand enough
to know that they don't understand the kind of work that we do and the pressures that we
have.
And they go, yeah, if you need this product or you need this, then
That's fine.
It's these entities that shut us down without any real connection to us or any
stakeholder.
They don't come and talk to us first, right?
If gophers continue to damage large areas of farmland and limit crop growth on a massive
scale, the impacts will be felt for years to come.
From the resilience of rural communities to broader food security, the issue has lasting
consequences and ultimately affects consumers.
Well, I think the numbers speak for itself when it comes to, you know, agriculture loss
and production, right?
I mean, um these all add up, right?
It's uh thousands of acres, it's hundreds of thousands of acres across the Western
provinces that are lost because we have no way to control these rodents.
And yeah, I mean, it's part of the picture, right?
I mean, are we going to notice it today or tomorrow?
Probably not, but I mean...
down the road, the fact that you have hundreds of thousands of acres that aren't being
produced because of an infestation of rodents, I mean, that's a pretty serious thing.
So there's food impacts, there's economic impacts.
It's a much bigger issue and uh it's not across the whole country.
mean, I'm sure Eastern Canada, I you know, they're not seeing the same infestations as we
are, but the numbers get big real quick when you start to go across all of Western Canada
and all the acres that are in agricultural production right now.
And I think it just shows too that, I mean, when these organizations...
These government organizations like PMRA can kind of arbitrarily make these decisions and
in an instant say, no, no more.
It's illegal now.
What could they do with other products that we use in agriculture all the time and what
that could do to our food security?
It's a real problem.
think there needs to be some look change to how the decision making is made or at least
transparency in what they're doing and why they've made these decisions.
Because if they did that with another product, we could be in a lot of trouble.
I think it's just really
you know, that it does have real impacts on farmers.
mean, the cost that we incur because of this is significant and uh it's coming out of our
pockets, right?
mean, nothing's got cheaper.
I canola seed isn't cheaper than it was 10 years ago.
Fuel isn't cheaper.
I mean, all of these costs are just going through the roof.
I mean, farmers are trying to put food on their table.
They're trying to keep these operations going for another generation.
I think it's just when they don't have any skin in the game, I think it's really easy to
make these decisions.
without the right information or without any consequence, but it's the guys on the grounds
that are feeling the consequence because of it.
And I mean, we kind of talked about it a little bit, but you know, it's what problem are
you trying to solve here?
I mean, and that was really a frustrating thing is, you know, there was really never that
good explanation of, well, we had to do this because of this.
You know, as far as municipalities go, I mean, there's an issue if it is being misused.
We can be partners in this, right?
We have resources.
We can actually help you if there is a problem to be solved.
But it was all anecdotal.
Like it was like, well, you know, it could poison birds.
Well, okay.
But like, has it?
Like, like let's see some data on this.
Let's actually have a real conversation as opposed to the what ifs, because I mean, it's
just too valuable of a thing.
And we really needed to be at the table.
You know, you needed the boots on the ground experience when they were actually having
these and not just, you know, bureaucrats that don't have no skin in the game.
Yeah, I think I would say similar to what Jason said is say, let us help you.
You think this is a real bad product.
I think we understand we don't have any hard data.
Just as we're saying they don't have any hard data that this is, there's an increase in
pet deaths or birds or whatever.
Let's try to find that data.
Let's figure out how effective this product really is versus zinc phosphide or a Roazol or
something, another product.
And let's create some data here.
And I mean, maybe we're wrong.
Maybe Jason and I are just, we've had
100 years of anecdotal evidence that doesn't correlate out to the rest of the provinces,
but let's work together in making these decisions so that we can create that data, make it
more robust.
And like you say, they need to understand what we're going through here and that we need
every tool we can find.
And there is no incentive or reason for us to mistreat this product or any dangerous good
product, pesticide, chemical, anything.
Why would we want to do that for ourselves?
Most of us that live on farms, if we don't have mixed farm operations, we'll have dogs and
cats and horses around too.
Why would we want to mistreat this product and potentially harm something of ours that is
either a pet or a hobby for us or an actual another part of our income and our operation?
I mean, I think on an issue like this, I think it's, if you're concerned about a product,
I mean, if you have views on strychnine that it shouldn't be there.
go talk to an agriculture producer and like I said, go get in the truck and go see what
it's actually impacting or how it's actually impacting producers.
And I think really it's an eye opener when you can actually see those impacts firsthand as
opposed to just, you know, reading about it in the newspaper or, you know, reading about
it on Facebook that this is a terrible product and we have to get rid of it.
I think if you actually go and talk to somebody who it's impacting their bottom line, I
think you probably gain a very different perspective on just, you know, why we have to use
it.
It's not that we want to be using it.
We would love to not be talking about gophers, but it's one of those things that we really
need to do in order to keep our land productive and to keep doing what we're doing as well
as to feed our families.
It's really just on decisions like this, talk to the people who actually have that boots
on the ground knowledge and maybe not believing everything that you see on Facebook.
Yeah, I think I would echo Jason for sure.
I just like to acknowledge all the work that Jason and the Ag Service boards have done.
This was an example of on the ground how these counties, these municipalities, how they
work, they all have Ag Service Boards.
We're all either mixture of former representatives and councillors.
And we had some real knowledge about this and that we got together and pushed this all the
way up to Edmonton and then straight across Ottawa shows that these systems can work and
that we can affect change.
And I think that those boards are so, so important and the work that Jason does.
with these counties representing Vulcan is really important.
And we need to continue to do that.
And for listeners out there that are, like you say, asking questions, you can get involved
and you can join some of these organizations, some of these boards and committees that are
doing really on the ground, hard work to push these things forward.
And hopefully we're going to get some more hard data.
Maybe we can make some changes to AFSC and their insurance program and the...
We can find an actual direct gopher distinction so that when we do come with a claim
because of a gopher problem, we can actually plot that and AFSC can start actually
generating some hard data on what this is actually costing.
Not only us, but if we're making an insurance claim, that's AFSC is generally who we're
insured through.
That's a provincially run operation and that's a taxpayer who ultimately is funding that
product.
It's important for us all to
be aware of these issues and see that they have an impact.
Yeah, no, thank you for inviting us on.
It's good to get the word out.
Hopefully there's some people watching this that maybe we've changed their mind.
Hopefully we've made a good argument that strychnine isn't as scary as maybe, like I said,
you read on Facebook.
Yeah.
Thanks you guys.
That was great.
the end of the day, we look to our resiliency within ourselves and our communities to make
our collective futures as bright as possible.
All it will take is conversations like these, some vulnerability and a little digging.
Thanks to the support of UFA Cooperative, we're able to share stories from those who live
and breathe agriculture.
Thanks to Wade and Jason for giving us insight into this large problem and the larger
impacts of restrictive legislation.
For more information on today's episode, please visit ufa.com.
With listeners like you, we'll continue to dig a little deeper here on Digging In with
UFA.
I'm Don Schaffer.
Thanks for listening.
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