Farmers say rainy weather delaying summer New Brunswick crops

While the rest of the country grapples with abnormally dry summer weather, New Brunswick has been showered with rain for the past few weeks.

Several parts of the province were subject to heavy rainfall warnings on Monday, with some areas projected to receive up to 70 millimetres of rainfall, according to Environment Canada.

Kent County-based farmer Rebeka Frazer-Chiasson of Ferme Terre Partagée said the rain had already caused delays in her farm’s weekly produce box service.

“We’re generally pretty much able to estimate the date where we will start and respect that date,” she said in an interview on Monday.

“This year for the first time we had to push it back one week even though we’re later than one week in the field, there’s a three week difference as compared to other years. We just haven’t had enough warmth and sun for many crops.”

She said her farm’s greenhouse had flooded during heavier rainfalls.

“When we’re walking through the fields and sinking, we know that that has an impact in terms of the growth of the crops,” she said.

Alyssa Thorne, a farmer who also works as a customer sales representative at the Co-op Country Store in Moncton, said customers at the farm supply store were starting their crops later due to rain pooling in the fields.

“The longer it takes to get the grass off, the lower quality the feed is going to be so in the long run it’s going to affect their overall production this year for sure,” she said on Monday.

Thorne raises grass for feed on her dairy farm in Havelock. She said the persistent rain was shortening New Brunswick’s already short season.

“We probably only have about two thirds of our first crop in, normally we’d be starting on our second crop at this point in the summer and we have yet to get our first crop off,” she said.

“Every week counts when you’re growing in such a short season,” Frazer-Chiasson said, noting she wasn’t able to have the full, varied table of produce she’s usually able to sell at the farmer’s market by this point in the season.

She said while there was still time to plan fall crops like carrots and beets, she doesn’t think it will be possible to catch up to the usual amounts of summer produce this year.

“We’ve seen in the last couple of years, the first frosts have been later and the weather has been nice into October and even November that can make a difference,” she said.

“But if crops haven’t been planted and had their full growth potential right from the start, that can have an impact all through the season.”