Peace farmers still need more rain

While this week brought the first significant rain in months for the Dawson Creek area, farmers and ranchers say they are hoping for more before the ground freezes for winter.

One researcher has said that without that rain, farmers in the area could face a spring drought, and seeds will not develop in the area.

Claire Langlois, the research manager for the B.C. Grain Producers Association, said that based on his research, yields are down, but that it may have been worse without rains in June and August that occurred.

He also said that farms in the Fort St. John area appeared to have received a wetter summer than farms in the Dawson Creek area, as they received about an inch more worth of rain.

However, he also said that more rain is needed before the winter freeze, which he expects to happen around the middle of the month.

One cattle rancher, John Kendrew, who owns a farm in the Pouce Coupe area, agreed that more rain was needed.

He said that this summer has been dry for crops he uses to feed his cattle. This has resulted in fewer crops growing more than once during this time.

If more rain does not come down before the ground freezes up due to winter, this water will not be available to use for his crops to grow later on in the spring.

This lack of rain has also hurt the crops that his animals typically forage upon. In response, Kendrew believes that he will have to begin feeding his cattle hay that is typically used throughout the winter earlier in the year.

He said that many ranchers he knows have already begun feeding hay to their crops because of poor yields.

When this happens, he said, cattle typically do not put on as much weight as they normally would, which decreases their value.

Kendrew added that this decreases the profit margin expected for these farms, which have been tight since mad cow disease hit these farms ten years ago.

He is not the only one to feel the pinch in the area. Roy Burseth, who farms cattle approximately 175 kilometres northwest of Fort St. John, said that despite the two to two and a half inches of snowfall that his farm received earlier this week, his farm still needs moisture.

Burseth said that the summer has been one of the hottest and driest that he has seen in recent memory, but that a carry over from last year's crop has helped him feed his cattle.

While Burseth is managing, it's a change from what a local researcher said was initially expected for this year's crop.

James Griffiths, who deals with crop insurance claims for the Dawson Creek AGRI office, said that the hot summer has diminished what could have been a phenomenal harvest for local farmers.

"It's made an extraordinary crop average," he said.

The move also comes when commodity prices have hit a relatively high mark when compared to the historical average.

While not many farmers have come to his organization to make crop insurance claims in case of failure, he said that he would have to wait until the final numbers come in during December to see how this year's drought has affected farmers.