A drought that never really was is the top agricultural story for 2024 in southeast Alberta. Pictured are volunteers at the annual Canadian Foodgrains Bank harvest.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
This year was an unexpected boon for farmers in the southeastern corner, despite lingering fears of drought.
Following the unusually hot and dry season in 2023, concerns were prevalent heading into this past growing season, with both the City of Medicine Hat and Cypress County making plans for continued water shortages as early as last December and throughout the winter months. Low reservoir levels and river flow only heightened this anxiety, with commentary from farmers that even irrigated crops may be in trouble if snowmelt and precipitation didn’t come through to replenish sources to keep up with demand.
Free rain barrels and water restrictions were the talk of the city in May, with concerns about potentially not having water in outlying communities being a major topic at the Municipal Mingle on May 15.
However, these concerns would come to an unexpected halt in May, as the city would see near record-breaking amounts of precipitation, just in time for seeding. May saw 111.4 mm of precipitation; while this number did not break city records for rain, it was a much-needed boost to flow levels and soil moisture, helping to get a strong start on the growing season.
May 7 in particular was responsible for most of this moisture, shattering city records for one-day rain in May by more than 30 mm with a total of 73.3 millimetres.
Warning preparedness meteorologist Natalie Hasell attributed this to a shift out of El Niño conditions at the time, explaining that as the jet streams changed into a more neutral positioning, the prairies would see cooler and wetter conditions.
River flow levels would rise into the low end of normal levels as things continued, though much of the region stayed on high alert for a dry summer as subsoil moisture levels stayed relatively low.
Ultimately, despite this rain coming later and high temperatures over the summer growing season, final yields in the region were slightly above average, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.
The South, North West and Peace regions were slightly above average, the yields in the Central and North East regions were below average.
Crop quality for oats and dry peas are currently exceeding the five-year average, with a higher rate of these crops grading in the top two grade categories. In contrast, spring wheat, durum, barley and canola are all grading in the top two grades at rates lower than the five-year average. In general, said the Ministry, Alberta produces high-grade crops, keeping this in line with expectations.
This included high yields for the local charity field for Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which ended up at an estimated 30 bushels per acre at the time of harvest.
With predictions of a colder, more-snow heavy winter suggested by the Farmer’s Almanac, the area may see more soil moisture for crops come spring, and the looming threat of heat and dry conditions may have abated for now.
