Dry summer, crispy crops. Farmers are feeling the lack of rain

Local farmers are feeling the effects of what the University of Waterloo Weather Station says is the driest June in 15 years.

Almost 50 mm of rain fell throughout the month, which is below the 80 mm of rain that is normally recorded, said Frank Seglenieks, coordinator of the school's weather station.

"We had about half of the month's precipitation all fall within the first week and then we had almost two weeks of no rain and then a little bit at the end," he said.

"I don't think it's a great surprise for many people that it's been pretty dry, not just in June, but actually the whole year."

Seglenieks said precipitation was below average during the spring months and early summer. 

James Herrle from Herrle's Country Farm Market in St. Agatha is among farmers in southwestern Ontario, who have felt the absence of rain this summer.

"It's been one of the driest in several years, comparatively to last year, when we had a week in June where we saw seven inches of rain," he said.

"We're definitely seeing things dry up. Plants are starting to curl up and start protecting themselves against the sun, particularly in the afternoon."

Drought conditions on the horizon

According to Agriculture Canada, which monitors drought conditions across the country, southwestern Ontario has been experiencing abnormally dry conditions in June and so far in July.

"We did have good soil moisture storage earlier on in the year, but we're going through a general dry period right now, causing a number of challenges for the agricultural community," said Trevor Hadwen, an agro-climate specialist with Agriculture Canada.

Hadwen said conditions for July could improve with a few days of good precipitation, but southwestern Ontario is on its way to drought conditions if the lack of rain continues — a one in five year event.

"Certainly we're getting close to that," he said. "If you take into account the conditions over the last two weeks, we're probably looking at a moderate drought or mild drought situation right now."

Another layer of costs

Herrle said though the dry weather has been good for their strawberry season, it has been tough for other crops like their sweet corn, winter wheat and soybeans.

He said the farm is on its fourth round of irrigation for their corn, which adds another layer of costs to their production in a year where inflation has soared.

The dry weather put stress on plants, which impacts how much it yields. If farmers harvest less, costs of that product may go up.

"That's the challenge. Trying to charge enough that we're making a profit so that we're in business again next year, but also trying to cover our costs and trying to be competitive," Herrle said.

The forecast this week is calling for a low chance of rain on Wednesday and over the weekend. Herrle said they have enough water to keep irrigating on their smaller crops, but he fears if rain doesn't come soon, some farmers may start to see bigger losses.

"If we don't get rain within the next week there's going to be some crop losses in crop production," he said.

"We've already seen some of that on certain soil types, where its definitely showing stress that it's beyond a point of repair."