2019 challenging year for local farmers

Last weekend more than 10cm of snow dumped on Medicine Hat, and up to 30cm in Lethbridge.

The snow prevents farmers from completing their harvest. They need to wait for the snow to melt and for the ground to dry off.

Making Conny Kappler scramble to harvest the last of her crops, including cucumbers, beans, pumpkins and strawberries.

“Thursday and Friday it was crazy,” says Conny Kappler, owner of save our soils farm produce. “All of the kids that help me on the farm are in school so I’m doing most of this myself, yeah it was a hard two days to get everything off that I could.”

Some farmers have as much as half of their crop still in the ground.

Vossler says he has about a quarter of his left, but no matter how much he manages to harvest, this years yield is significantly lower, like many of his neighbours.

“As for yields compared to normal, on dry land we’re probably down to 10 to 20 per cent of our normal yields,” he says.

Ranchers are feeling the affects of the snow as well, they have to head out in these cold snowy conditions to round up their cattle.

However, Vossler says the moisture could pose an advantage for next year.

“As for grass conditions for next year, this is actually a really positive thing,” he says. “There’s more moisture in this snow than what we’ve seen for moisture in the last two years.”

Vossler adds some farmers may be harvesting their crops all the way into December.

During that, they’ll be dreaming about ideal conditions for next year.

“I’d like an early spring, early nice spring. I’d like a late fall with no frost or snow, I’d like to go into mid-October without snow or cold,” says Kappler.

“Hopefully we have a good year and it’s back to a normal pattern and not such erratic weather behaviour,” says Vossler

by Jessie Weisner

2019 challenging year for local farmers

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