'They’re just burnt right up to nothing': Sask. canola farmers brace for challenging harvest
Standing in acres of stunted canola, Saskatoon-area farmer Derek Dery says usually by this time, his crops are well above his waist. But not this year as the plants are barely past his knees.
“We’re just under 2,000 acres this year and unfortunately two-thirds of our canola looks similar to this,” Deary said, holding what he describes as a petrified canola plant. “The excessive heat on top of drought stress has fizzled the plants into just sticks, the pods have dried up, it’s unfortunate but it’s the way it is.”
According to Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada Inc., the national body monitoring drought conditions across the country, Saskatchewan is currently in a severe or extreme drought, and it’s the result of sustained extreme heat and well-below average precipitation, especially in the Saskatoon area.
“The Saskatoon area particularly we’re 125-150 mm below normal for the growing season since April 1st,” said agroclimate specialist Trevor Hadwen. “This last month has been extremely dry.”
What Saskatchewan is facing currently is a one in 50-year occurrence, Hawden said. Meaning if you look at the past 100 years and the levels of precipitation recorded, 2021 is one of the two worst years over the past 100 years.
“Unfortunately this is the year that we’ve always been afraid would eventually come,” Dery said.
An average canola yield for Dery’s operation is 40 to 45 bushels per acre. This year’s harvest he’s expecting a massive dip in his yields, with some acres producing zero. He added this year is 100 per cent a crop insurance year.
“I don’t think this field will fill four-and-a-half bushels per acre so we’ll have a lot of single digit canola yields,” he said. “If you look at some of these pods and plants they’re just burnt right up to nothing, it’s just sticks that’s left with one pod per plant.”
Now with just weeks left in the growing season, Dery said the best he could hope for is clear weather and closure.
“The best gift for us would be closure, get this crop harvested with the quality that’s there,” he said.
Hawden added even inches of rain over Saskatchewan wouldn’t do much more than replenish a fraction of soil moisture in the ground, He compares what’s happening in Saskatchewan to an extreme drought that hit the province more than 30 years ago.
“I look at comparing this year’s drought to 1988,” he said. “We had severe temperatures throughout the year and very dry conditions.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING NEWS Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'