'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 Trudeau promises $1B in loans for child-care providers to expand care centres
The federal government is launching a new loan program to help child-care providers in Canada expand their spaces, and will be extending further student loan forgiveness and training options for early childhood educators, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.