Saskatchewan farmers, ecosystems battle drought across province

Saskatchewan farmers are in desperate need of rain, but they are not the only ones battling drought.

The absence of rainfall has left rivers and wetlands dry, impacting species and plants in the province.

John Wilmshurst, the native grasslands conservation manager at the Canadian Wildlife Federation, said the drought is having an impact on everything in nature right now.

“The drought has an effect on all plants, whether they be crops or hay species, tame species or native species,” Wilmshurst said. “You see that the grasses are shorter, there’s less seed in the grasses, there’s less leaves out there.”

For native grasslands in the province, the drought is having the same effect as it is on crops. But because they aren’t areas that need to be seeded every year like crops, they are more resilient in the long term.

“What’s happening in Saskatchewan for the last five or six years will have less effect on native grasslands than in croplands,” he explained.

And the worry for producers is growing.

“We had early rainfall and the crops started out quite well,” farmer Stuart Leonard said. “And then it didn’t rain again. We had about four, five inches of rain, then the rains stopped and then the heat started. So it’s really baked in the crop,”

He said things are not looking good when it comes to this year’s yields.

“I think our yields are going to be a quarter of last year’s yield. Last year is quite a significant yielding crop, but this year is going to be a huge loss,” he said.

According to the province’s crop report for the period of July 25 to July 31, only five per cent of pastures are in good condition, while 28 per cent are fair, 42 per cent are poor and 25 per cent are very poor.

Leonard said for now, all they can do is hope for rain and take precautionary measures.

“Insurance is about all we can do,” Leonard said. “We can’t change the weather, but I buy certain insurances to mitigate my risk.

“It’ll let you get to the next year. Might not make it financially viable but it gets you to the next year.”

And for farmers, it is hard to predict what future years will look like, as Wilmshurst expects the cycle of drought to continue in the province.

“These cycles are attributed to climate change, and it’s been estimated that the temperatures in Saskatchewan have increased by almost two degrees since the mid-20th century,” Wilmshurst said.