‘People need help now’: B.C. ranchers in urgent need of financial aid to rebuild their lives
Global News
“In the space of about 12 hours, we watched a lifetime's worth of work wash down the river and disappear," rancher Rhonda MacDonald told Global News.
It didn’t take long for floodwaters to inundate the ranching property in Shackan, B.C. northwest of Merritt, that Rhonda and Wayne MacDonald spent 30 years cultivating.
“In the space of about 12 hours, we watched a lifetime’s worth of work wash down the river and disappear,” rancher Rhonda MacDonald told Global News.
The MacDonalds raise beef cattle and grow hay at Bar FX Ranch along Highway 8 between Merritt and Spences Bridge.
The couple had already lost 20 per cent of their herd during the Lytton wildfire evacuations last summer – and was trying to recover when a surging Nicola River changed course and unleashed devastation on Nov. 15, 2021.
About two hectares of their property was lost along with three irrigation pumphouses – leaving them without a way to water their fields.
Their two-year-old calving shed was flooded and heavily damaged.
What’s left of their land is under almost a metre of silt and rocks – including a once prime 26-hectare hayfield.
“At this point, we’ve had so much damage to our infrastructure and our property – we don’t know that ranching will be feasible for us anymore,” Rhonda told Global News.