'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
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.