Taber corn will be in short supply this summer. A hail storm on Friday did considerable damage to the crop. As a result there won’t be as much as last year on Taber corn stands.
David Jensen grows and sells Taber corn. He said, “All the area in the Taber region except for one piece of ours has all been hit by hail. This field is probably about 40 percent damaged crop and we’re thinking we’re going to harvest a lot less out of this field than we would normally.”
Even before the storm farmers knew it was going to be a smaller crop than last year. Long time grower Gary Valgardson isn’t growing any corn this year while Jenson and some others planted less than they did a year ago.
“We’re probably down about 20 percent in acres,” said Jensen. “Then this hail set it back. Hopefully the fall’s good and we’ll be able to harvest what we have left.”
The hail also damaged other crops. A wheat field on Jensen’s farm was green until hail knocked it down and it turned white. From a distance, it looked like it had been harvested.
“That’s why they call it the great white combine because it hailed so bad that it turned it white just like you’d combined it,” said Jensen.
About six thousand acres of canola in the Taber – Grassy Lake was also damaged. Hail damaged close to four thousand acres of potatoes. Some sugar beets fields were hailed on and beans were also damaged by hail.
There have been about 1,600 claims for crop insurance in southern Alberta this year. Doug Dueck, area manager for Agriculture Financial Services Corporation said, “Some of those crops will come back but it’s getting later all the time and some of them will not come back. Some of them have been damaged to the extent of a permanent loss for this growing season.”
Before the hail fell Jensen said his corn was beautiful. “A couple of weeks ago it was absolutely one of the best crops we’ve had in the last ten years. It’s sort of disheartening but how can you control mother nature?”
Jensen plans to start selling Taber corn on August first. He says there may be a lull in sales later while the remainder of the crop catches up and is ready to harvest.
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