Southern Alberta farmers optimistic despite heat wave

LETHBRIDGE — Southern Alberta farmers were happy to receive some of the wettest weather in recent years this spring.

This spring was the Lethbridge region's 16th wettest on record.

After a dry winter and several years of drought, it gave many farmers hope for this growing season.

"A lot better than the last few years we've had, where we had a lot of drought and lack of moisture in the fields. We had a good couple shots of rain throughout the spring and the beginning of summer. It's starting to get a little hotter and drier now, the past couple weeks,” said Sean Stanford, who farms near Magrath.

But the constant rain from spring is now nowhere to be seen.

Forecasts predict temperatures will stay around 30 C for at least the next week with little to no rain.

"This heat wave that we're in that started last week, and obviously, this week's looking like it's going to be another really hot week, the corn will like it. It might be a little too hot for everything else," said James Johnson, owner-operator of Johnson Fresh Farms.

The challenge now will be keeping crops wet during this heatwave.

Farmers will have to decide which crops to focus their attention on.

"Some crops need more moisture than others. Oil seeds in particular need more moisture than a cereal crop, so they're high on the priority list now of things we're doing and taking care of. But we're still making sure everything that we can gets watered properly," Stanford said.

Some producers recently got some good news.

The St. Mary Irrigation District has increased the water allocation from eight to nine inches of water per acre.

While it's still short of a typical allocation, every little bit helps.

"That's the thing. We don't know when this heat wave is really going to end. It could just continue on for another couple weeks. If that's the case, there will be pressure to keep the pivots going around," Johnson said.

The reservoirs feeding the Lethbridge region are also in good shape.

The Oldman, St. Mary and Waterton reservoirs are all in normal ranges for this time of year.