Heat spell, dry season hurting western Alberta crops
The extreme heat and lack of precipitation is being felt on farms across Alberta, and there's a high probability of it hurting this year's yield.
The quasi-drought is noticeable south of Red Deer and gets even worse south of Calgary, where many regions were already short of moisture as far back as last year.
That left farmers planting in dusty ground this spring, and barring a meteorological miracle, a lot of those crops won't mature in the summer.
"This is weather we're used to in August," Gladys Ridge farmer Leroy Newman said. "We've never seen it in June like this."
On Newman's farm, thousands of acres of hay, wheat, barley, peas and canola have taken a beating.
Some seeds haven't yet germinated.
"I don't know if you could justify even cutting (what's there)," he told CTV News Thursday.
On Leroy Newman's farm, thousands of acres of hay, wheat, barley, peas and canola have taken a beating.
The latest provincial Agricultural Moisture Situation Update said many crops may be experiencing early signs of moisture stress.
"Currently," the late April report reads, "moisture reserves are extremely low across many areas and timely rains are more important now than ever. Many areas have received well below normal rainfall, a condition that persists since at least Aug. 1."
"We've had a couple times of rain this year and it's just not enough to sustain a crop where there's no subsoil moisture," Newman said. "The soil is usually like a big sponge: it soaks all the moisture and holds it in for these dry heats waves. We just haven't had any reserve for the last four years."
"A lot of areas in Alberta and Saskatchewan are into our third or fourth year of normal than drier conditions," Todd Lewis with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture said. "It's frustrating. There's not much you can do as a farmer if it doesn't rain."
One bright spot for producers is that commodity prices are currently high, which means there is still money to be made.
But with increasing overhead costs on farms, this Alberta heat spell could be felt in Canadian cities soon enough.
Less production typically results in higher prices being passed down to the consumer.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.