While wildfire smoke continues to shroud much of Manitoba and suppress extreme temperatures in farm regions, agricultural leaders say the benefits to crops come with deep concern for families and communities being driven from their homes.
Keystone Agricultural Producers president Jill Verwey says that although haze in past years has helped lower crop stress during sensitive growth periods, the current context is more serious.
“It’s not that favourable, but it somewhat kind of acts almost like a cloud,” Verwey says. “We saw it a couple summers ago when we had lots of smoke.”
But she is quick to note the situation is much bigger than agriculture.
“We’re under a state of emergency again for forest fires here in Manitoba,” says Verwey. “With the circumstances in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and the number of evacuees out of home, that alone made it clear this wasn’t the time for ministers to travel.”
The federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers cancelled their usual summer meeting amid the crisis. However, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is still holding its annual summer gathering in Winnipeg this week, where Verwey is helping host discussions with farm leaders, stakeholders and industry reps from across the country.
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Despite the absence of ministers, Verwey says they’re focused on solutions.
“We always look for solutions as to what we can do,” she says. “We’ll be compiling key points from this week and presenting them when the ministers meet this fall, hopefully here in Manitoba.”
The event also includes on-site farm tours, with groups visiting research and innovation sites near Winnipeg.
Verwey adds that photos and updates will be shared throughout the week through Keystone Agricultural Producers as the meetings continue.
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