Excessive rainfall and an early snow have taken a toll on crops in the MD of Bonnyville.
According to Alberta Agriculture, based on reports from the municipality’s agricultural fieldman, only seven per cent of crop is off in our area. Typically, for this time of year, that number should be well over 50 per cent, based on a five-year average, said Matt Janz, director of agriculture and waste services for the MD.
“Right now, there’s probably a lot of farmers that are stressing out because so little has been done,” explained Janz, who reported on the crop conditions during the Sept. 12 MD council meeting.
“It’s been a wet year in the whole of the MD of Bonnyville, so it makes it challenging to get out into the fields... The crops for potential yields looks good, they’re favourable yields. That makes it more stressful to the farmers when you have a decent crop out in the field and it’s challenging to get it into the bins. It’s frustrating.”
MD of Bonnyville farmers aren’t alone when it comes to those frustrations. Janz noted the entire region northeast of Edmonton seems to be sitting in the same situation, with many municipalities starting to have conversations about a state of disaster if the weather doesn’t cooperate.
“It’s a huge concern. At seven per cent completion, that is not a lot at all. With the amount of moisture we had this summer, and what we’ve had here recently, these cold temperatures are not helping anything either,” said Reeve Greg Sawchuk. “We’re going to have to talk with Matt and really watch this closely, because it’s a huge investment these farmers have in their fields. With how little having come off so far, it’s going to be a huge financial impact on them.”
While last year’s harvest was a little later than usual, the lack of crops off this fall is the worst the area’s seen in a long time Janz said. To add to the struggles, the early hit of snow has caused lodging in some of the cereal crops.
“Lodging means that the standing crops will be starting to lay down because of the high moisture and weight of the snow. It takes a little longer for those crops to dry out... If farmers do start getting out in the field in a week or two, they might have to dry the grain, which is an extra expense and, obviously, takes a lot longer to harvest.”
If the weather doesn’t start to cooperate soon, the MD of Bonnyville will consider declaring a state of disaster. This will give them the leverage to bring their concerns regarding the local crops to a provincial and federal politicians, however, it doesn’t guarantee any funds will be released.
“It’s just a point for the municipality to make everybody else aware that there is problems in the area... We’ve done it in the past and it just puts the awareness back on the other groups of politicians,” explained Janz. “We still have a few weeks before we’d look at that and we’ll see what the weather does. Hopefully we won’t even have to bring it up anymore.”
Sawchuk added, “We’ll have to wait a couple of weeks before we can get close to making that decision. We still have maybe a month where we can get good weather, but if we continue to get moisture then we’re going to be starting to look at that right away.”
In the meantime, MD staff will continue to monitor the situation in local fields and do what they can to keep the water moving and the farmland less flooded. Despite the dire situation, Janz expressed they haven’t given up hope yet.
“We just need some dry days. Sometimes October is dry here in the Bonnyville area and maybe all the worrying will be for nothing.”
