'You’re not going to grow anything in a desert': Sask. farmers left with few options
As dry and hot conditions persist in the province, farmers like Jeremy Welter have increasing concerns over the future as they sit and wait for the skies to open up with some much-needed rain.
“I hate to say it things kind of really aren’t actually really going right now at all. we're going into seven weeks of no substantial rain and really no moisture,” Welter told CTV News.
According to the Government of Saskatchewan's latest crop update, only about half of fall and spring cereals, oilseeds and 49 pulse crops are at "normal stages of development for this time of year."
Welter grew up on a farm, and nine years ago he decided to return to the industry, but now he has uncertainties about the future as his crops bake in the sun.
“The thought of this being that final nail in the coffin that drives me out of the industry, because I just can't do it anymore financially, it's hard for me. I can’t imagine what it's like for someone who has been in the industry 20-30 years,” Welter said.
The provincial update said only 8 per cent of topsoil is considered adequate when it comes moisture, with 53 per cent classified "very short" on moisture.
Welter said at this point there is very little to be done other than just sitting and waiting for rain or moisture of any kind while trying to understand it’s out of his hands.
“I was having a conversation with somebody else about mental health and stress. I said as disappointing as it is to look out and see all of the time and energy and investment dry up and wither in the field, there is a definite part of you that goes ‘there’s not much I could have done differently,’” Welter told CTV.
“In a year like this you can pick the most drought-tolerant crops and you can be as good as anybody at managing both the business and the agronomic side of a farm, you’re not going to grow anything in a desert.”
Welter said he is already looking to next year, although if conditions are the same, he says planning ahead of time won’t be any good when up against Mother Nature.
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.'