Chris Clegg
South Peace News
High Prairie is losing its Agriculture Financial Services Corporation branch office.
On April 30, the High Prairie branch will close and amalgamate with the Falher office.
In a news release issued by Big Lakes County March 25, they stated, “AFSC would like to ensure residents that this process will have no effect on personal accounts with AFSC, nor will it result in a disruption to client services.”
It is not the only recent decision affecting High Prairie and area agriculture producers.
On Nov. 26, 2020 Big Lakes County council passed the 2021 interim budget.
“Due to constraints on municipal revenues through unpaid property taxes and the lowering of assessment value, council faced many challenging decisions,” reads the BLC news release.
“One of the difficult choices council made was not to renew the 2021 Veterinary Service Incorporated [VSI] contract.”
Savings to council was not disclosed in the news release. A request for the amount was not provided.
The VSI program was offered by council for many years. The program intended to ensure county residents had access to veterinary services.
However, there were concerns.
“Over the past few years, the main complaint heard by the Agricultural Advisory Committee [AAC] was that there is limited access to timely veterinary services and the difficulty in retaining local veterinarians,” says BLC.
BLC is now asking the public’s help for ideas.
“The intention of the AAC and Big Lakes County Council is to work together to find better solutions for our Big Lakes County producers,” says BLC.
“Therefore, the County, in conjunction with MLA Pat Rehn, will host a community public forum once public health guidelines allow. Until then, we welcome your ideas, thoughts, and inputs as we continue to work together towards a new solution for Big Lakes County residents.”
Ideas, comments or concerns may be forwarded to assistant agricultural fieldman, Kendra Kozdroski at .
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