Hot, dry weather has farmers scrambling to protect crops

Farmers across Canada are scrambling for solutions to keep their crops viable amid extreme heat and dry conditions. Paul Hollingsworth has more.

Farmer Josh Oulton is pumping more than 750 litres of water per minute on his peach crops at his farm in Greenwich, N.S.

Lately, he’s been using expensive and sophisticated equipment to protect his peaches from the dry, hot conditions that have smothered Nova Scotia in recent days.

“Basically, it’s like a sprinkler on your lawn, but this is a lot of water,” said Oulton. “We are trying to put three inches of water down on these peaches.”

According to Oulton, farming requires patience and skill, while managing extreme weather.

“It gets extremely dry, or extremely wet,” said Oulton, who added the tinder-dry conditions are having an impact in many farming communities across the country. “Dry seems to be the name of the game, and in Ontario now, they seem to be dry up there.”

If Oulton can keep the water flowing, he believes he can grow anything on his family’s 1,000 acres of farmland.

“We grow nectarines, peaches and plums, and we try apricots,” said Oulton. “We can grow anything on this land here in the Annapolis Valley.”

In general, extreme weather, both wet and dry, can impact crops in different ways.

Ian O’Brien sells and delivers locally grown vegetables daily, and warned the dry weather can be a crop killer.

“Leafy vegetables may be potentially vulnerable to the heat,” said O’Brien. “But the dry heat is good for plums and cherries and peaches.”

There are broader concerns: damaged crops brought on by extreme weather can impact the availability and prices of food. Which is why Oulton will keep the water flowing to protect his crops and his family’s farming business.