Arid July could affect yields, quality of crops
With harvest one-per-cent complete in Saskatchewan, Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart says it’s “hard to tell” what the dry conditions will ultimately mean for farmers.
“I think I kind of have a rough handle on what it will look like,” said Stewart, who farms near Pense.
He predicts canola will be the hardest hit, wheat will be below average, and lentils will fare best of all crops. That said, “We can get some surprises good or bad once harvest really gets underway.”
With less than five millimetres of rainfall across most of Saskatchewan in the last week of July and maximum temperatures of 34 C or higher, the southwest has seen less than 100 mm of rain this season.
“There’s never been a July this dry, as I understand it,” said Stewart. “The whole growing season has been extremely dry.”
Norm Hall, a vice-president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), has the word drought on his lips.
“Considering Regina had the driest July since 1885, I think we can use that term,” said Hall.
In the Palliser Triangle and surrounding area, “it’s too late” for rain, Hall added. “All moisture’s going to do now is hurt quality. For other areas north and east, it’s not going to hurt,” he continued.
The rainfall anomalies are Weyburn, which received 21 mm of rain in late July, and Glaslyn, which saw 38 mm.
Rain is always good for cattle ranchers, said Hall. “The pastures are getting chewed down pretty good right now and the hay crop is far less than normal right across the province.”
The hay crop is about one-third to one-half of the average, said Stewart.
He said some people will have to prematurely sell their cattle. The province has asked the federal government for an income-tax deferral in those cases.
Stewart expects there will be “quite a few” crop insurance claims, and adjusters are already travelling the province.
Not everywhere is suffering for moisture, though.
In the area surrounding Tisdale, Nipawin and Carrot River, Hall said some of the 2016 crop remains in the ground due to too much moisture.
Farming near Wynyard, Hall said “it’s still looking pretty good here.”
He had good soil moisture to begin with, rain through seeding and some small showers through July.
The dry conditions covering the southern half of the province might be a shock to some farmers, said Hall.
“We’re so used to the last seven or eight years of being so wet and you just whisper you need a shower and get one. This year, not so,” he said. “Some guys forget what it’s like to have it this dry. … Some of our young farmers that have just got going in the last six, seven, eight, 10 years, haven’t seen a crop failure because of drought before. So that could be pretty devastating.”
The Farm Stress Line received 59 calls in July, “primarily because producers in the hardest-hit areas are concerned,” said Stewart.
“They’re seeing a crop that they put a lot of money into and that got off to a pretty good start deteriorate pretty rapidly through July,” he added.
The Farm Stress Line is a 24/7, confidential support line. Rural residents can call it toll free at 1-800-667-4442.