Alberta's drought conditions haven't been as bad as expected this year, but farmers are feeling the burn regardless.
While conditions haven't been as dire as many were expecting, with farmers seeing a good amount of moisture heading into the summer, the rain that has come to Southern Alberta hasn't been arriving when it's needed the most.
Agriculture and Irrigation Minister and Highwood MLA, RJ Sigurdson, says we started off with a pretty promising first quarter.
"The overall sentiment remains positive for the province based on the Alberta Crop Report as late as July 19. Of course, 2023, the whole year was generally very warm and dry. Those conditions persisted throughout the winter and for the north half of the province. As spring arrived, there were many farmers and producers worried about what would happen this year. Of course, across a lot of Southern Alberta, starting in January, moisture began to arrive and build slowly ahead of the Spring. By the end of April, moisture had returned to many areas of the province, but we still did see dryer conditions persist in a few areas. East of Red Deer, Southern Peace Region, Edson area, and Cold Lake."
Still, early spring saw some good precipitation that started to establish ground moisture.
"We saw a build-back that really gave positive signs and a great start to the year, and already has yielded some great forage crops, including hay, and gave a good start to many of the crops planted this year."
Sigurdson says the price of hay has been a thorn in the side of Alberta farmers for a few years now, but it's seen some relief thanks to the early-season conditions.
"The great start we had to this year really fired up the hay fields. We had really good conditions for the first cut of this year. What that has resulted in is we've seen a price decline. Last year, in the late part of the season, we were seeing the high 300s and I heard even higher in parts of the province. From many I've talked to so far this year, with many of the better hay crops we've seen prices down around $175-195 a tonne which is a lot better for those individuals who are looking to build back and make sure they've got enough to winter their livestock... With a little bit of moisture, they might get a little bit off a second cut as well," says Sigurdson.
Unfortunately, that early-summer moisture didn't stick around, and heatwaves in July came at the worst possible time.
"It's not just how much rainfall we get, but also when we get that rainfall. Much of what would have created some high yields and very successful crops would've meant some significant rains in the early part of July, and this year we just didn't get that. That's why you see lots of the fields now turning and you see a lot of the farmers out there already swathing, combining, and putting some of those crops either to alternate use of silage for feed," Sigurdson explains.
Alberta Farm Sustainability Extension (AFSE) to deliver business risk management programs such as Moisture Deficiency Insurance and Hay Insurance.
"We saw an amazing uptick in those business risk management programs this year, which is very positive. That's a great sign, we know that we've got a lot more farmers and ranchers there that are covered for this year is the dry conditions to persist through the latter part of the season."