Southern Alberta farmers optimistic despite heat wave
![growing season / southern alberta Southern Alberta farmers were happy to receive some of the wettest weather in recent years this spring.](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/7/15/growing-season---southern-alberta-1-6965123-1721092732812.jpeg)
Southern Alberta farmers were happy to receive some of the wettest weather in recent years this spring.
This spring was the Lethbridge region's 16th wettest on record.
After a dry winter and several years of drought, it gave many farmers hope for this growing season.
"A lot better than the last few years we've had, where we had a lot of drought and lack of moisture in the fields. We had a good couple shots of rain throughout the spring and the beginning of summer. It's starting to get a little hotter and drier now, the past couple weeks,” said Sean Stanford, who farms near Magrath.
But the constant rain from spring is now nowhere to be seen.
Forecasts predict temperatures will stay around 30 C for at least the next week with little to no rain.
"This heat wave that we're in that started last week, and obviously, this week's looking like it's going to be another really hot week, the corn will like it. It might be a little too hot for everything else," said James Johnson, owner-operator of Johnson Fresh Farms.
The challenge now will be keeping crops wet during this heatwave.
Farmers will have to decide which crops to focus their attention on.
"Some crops need more moisture than others. Oil seeds in particular need more moisture than a cereal crop, so they're high on the priority list now of things we're doing and taking care of. But we're still making sure everything that we can gets watered properly," Stanford said.
Some producers recently got some good news.
The St. Mary Irrigation District has increased the water allocation from eight to nine inches of water per acre.
While it's still short of a typical allocation, every little bit helps.
"That's the thing. We don't know when this heat wave is really going to end. It could just continue on for another couple weeks. If that's the case, there will be pressure to keep the pivots going around," Johnson said.
The reservoirs feeding the Lethbridge region are also in good shape.
The Oldman, St. Mary and Waterton reservoirs are all in normal ranges for this time of year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.7010097.1724329123!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Rail work stoppage shuts down some Ontario, Quebec, B.C. commuter rail lines
Bewildered commuters were turned away from shuttered rail lines on Thursday as an unprecedented railway lockout upset travel plans for more than 30,000 daily riders in some of Canada's largest cities.
Former U.S. ambassador to Canada gives 'tsunami warning' about Trump
A former United States ambassador to Canada is sounding the alarm that a second Donald Trump presidency would cause chaos for Canadians as he urged Americans abroad that their votes could prove crucial in the presidential election.
The first person in Canada to legally access 'magic mushroom' therapy has died at age 56
A Saskatoon man who became a trailblazer for psilocybin-assisted therapy, using a psychedelic drug commonly known as magic mushrooms, has died at age 56.
Body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch is among those recovered from yacht wreckage, officials say
The Italian coast guard said Thursday the body of British tech magnate Mike Lynch is among those recovered off the coast of Sicily from the wreckage of a superyacht whose builders had called it unsinkable.
Fluoride at twice the recommended limit is linked to lower IQ in kids, U.S. report says
A U.S. government report expected to stir debate concluded that fluoride in drinking water at twice the recommended limit is linked with lower IQ in children.
Video shows swimmer bringing man to safety near Vancouver's Stanley Park
An avid swimmer insists he did not rescue a man he spotted floating in Vancouver’s English Bay – he just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and offered a helping hand.
DEVELOPING 9,300 employees locked out: Latest updates on shutdown of Canada's 2 largest railways
In a first for Canada, freight traffic on its two largest railways has simultaneously ground to a halt, threatening to upend supply chains trying to move forward from pandemic-related disruptions and a port strike last year.
Child's phone catches fire in Cambridge, Ont. movie theatre
A mother was left shaken after her 11-year-old's cellphone suddenly caught fire while he was in a movie theatre.
CUPE calls for Fred Hahn's resignation following social media post
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) passed a motion requesting national vice-president Fred Hahn's resignation following a recent social media post he shared.