‘We need a lot of rain’: Interlake communities dealing with severe drought

The hot, dry summer in Manitoba has farmers worried and communities issuing agricultural states of emergency. Daniel Halmarson reports.

Municipalities in Manitoba’s Interlake are triggering states of emergency and agricultural disaster in response to severe drought conditions.

It’s been a dry, hot summer in Manitoba. Farmers like Lyle Thorgilsson are worried it’s only going to get worse.

“It should be better than this,” he said, walking through fields on his property in Lundar, Man. “We should be standing in corn up to here.”

The cattle farmer said he relies on crops like corn to feed his herd. Most years, there is plenty to go around. But he said drought conditions are threatening his livelihood.

“There’s still maybe hope that we can get some tonnage out of it for feed for the cattle,” he said. “But yeah, it’s stunted for sure.”

He said it’s one of the worst years he’s seen in three decades on this farm.

“We had a severe drought here, I think it was four years ago. That was the worst anybody had ever seen,” he said. “I would say this is number two, probably.”

The drought conditions prompted the Rural Municipality of Saint Laurent to declare a state of emergency and the Rural Municipality of Coldwell to declare a state of agricultural disaster last Friday.

“It’s not looking good,” said Virgil Johnson, the reeve in Coldwell. “Sure, it looks a bit green here, but these crops are so stunted that it’s not good. And we need a lot of rain.”

Johnson and his council are calling on the province and the federal government for support.

“Hopefully, they can come up with some programs, good programs for the producers that don’t cost them an arm and a leg,” he said.

Thorgilsson said this drought ultimately affects all Manitobans—from farm to table.

“I think the public in general needs to pay attention to this kind of thing and remember where our food comes from,” he said.

In an emailed statement, Minister of Agriculture Ron Kostyshyn said provincial crop specialists are monitoring the dry conditions in the Interlake.

“As we monitor the conditions, we will continue to work with producers to help them meet challenges in their operations, including with existing Business Risk Management Programs,” Kostyshyn’s statement said. “We remain committed to strong farms in the Interlake and across Manitoba.”

Kostyshyn said his office has reached out to some producers and municipal leaders in the area.