Canadian Crop Hail Association
August 8, 2017
Overview
Hot, dry weather has accelerated the maturation of crops in southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan, resulting in early harvesting of some pulse crops.
July was a record-setting month, and that wasn’t a good thing if you’re a farmer in either of those provinces.
Rainfall totals in cities like Moose Jaw, Regina and Swift Current were nearly non-existent. Moose Jaw, for example, recorded its driest July in history – it received only four millimetres of rain in July, which was well short of its average 63 mm.
Regina was even worse. Just two millimetres of rain fell in that city in July, well shy of its average 67 mm. It was Regina’s driest July in 130 years.
It was the fourth-driest July on record for Swift Current, as that city received eight millimetres. Average rainfall for July in that city is 53 mm.
Meanwhile, in Alberta, May, June and July have been the hottest recorded in the Calgary area since records started in 1881, according to Environment Canada.
Very little rainfall, combined with record-setting heat, has pushed the wildfire hazard to extreme in much of southern Alberta. Alberta Agriculture and Forestry expanded a fire ban to include the entire area south of the Red Deer River along the mountains and Foothills to the northern boundary of Waterton Lakes National Park.
Alberta
Crop conditions in much of Alberta have declined further in the past couple of weeks due to adverse weather conditions.
The south and central areas of the province are showing significant signs of distress to both annual and perennial crops from continued high temperatures and lack of rain. Precipitation amounts were anywhere from 20 to 30 per cent lower in the past three months than historical average for the south region, while temperatures were also higher than the norm.
Crops in the south are nearing maturity, while central-area crops are at head emergence or podding stages.
First cut haying is complete, while second cut irrigation hay is well underway. Excellent quality is reported, but dryland yields are lower than normal.
In contrast, heavy rains in the north regions have again placed crops under excessively wet conditions and is causing stress to those crops. Peace region has maintained their crop conditions, and are within the five-year average rating.
Canola crops in these regions are moving into podding stage, while cereals are in late pollination to head emergence. Haying is almost complete with yields mixed, but excellent quality being reported.
Hail activity in the province has been widespread. Storms of note:
July 23 – widespread storm activity across much of central Alberta, hitting communities through the area between Edmonton and Red Deer and starting west of Highway 2 going across the province to the eastern border. Damage reports vary light to severe and from pea- to golf ball-sized hail stones with moderate to strong winds reported.
July 27 – Storm moved from the west to the south through the Yellowhead County, Abee to Newbrook and Radway area with golf ball-size hail stones causing severe damage. This was the second storm for the Niton Junction area.
July 28 – The majority of Marwayne experienced a second storm causing moderate damage.
Also of note, the Irma and Wainwright areas saw a few storms pass that resulted in mild to moderate losses. The Peace River region has produced some losses in mild to moderate range.
Milk River and New Dayton Alberta areas had seen some light hail in late July.
Saskatchewan
Pulse crop yields in southern and central regions are described as average to well below average as dry conditions persist and topsoil moisture conditions have worsened.
Many believe that any rainfall that is experienced now will come too late to benefit the already dry crops in the south. July was a record-setting month in Saskatchewan, with less than two millimetres of rainfall recorded across much of the southern half of the province.
Overall, crops have ripening quickly and range from poor to good condition.
Along the extreme southern border and western border, 100 per cent of cropland, hay land and pasture is short to very short for topsoil moisture.
Across the province, topsoil moisture on cropland is rated as one per cent surplus, 41 per cent short and 29 per cent very short.
Haying is wrapping up for many livestock producers and yields remain significantly lower than normal.
Most wheat crops in the province are normal for this time of year, though many canola fields in the south have taken a beating in the dry and hot conditions.
Lyle Stewart, Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Minister, predicts a lot of crop insurance claims this year due to the extreme drought.
The west-central of the province has submitted a lot of claims, mainly from the areas near Biggar, Rosetown and Herschel. Mild to moderate damage was reported here.
Two storms occurred in Outlook within 10 days of each other in late July. Mostly mild to moderate damage was reported, and a few fields received heavy damage.
Storms in the Climax and Bracken areas caused claims with significant losses.
Manitoba
Manitoba had been relatively quiet until the final week of July where losses were reported in the southern regions of the province, including Morden, Winkler, Pilot Mound and Crystal City areas.
July 21st there was a storm with walnut-sized hail was reported at Miniota. Social media photos received showed what appeared to be two grain bins tipped over just south of Miniota. The area was under a tornado warning at that time. Also, golf ball-sized hail was reported near Roblin.
Another storm on July 24-25 in Alexander, a community west of Brandon, had two storms within half an hour. The first, at 8:30 p.m., dropped hail the size of eggs, while the second storm pitched walnut-sized hail. The small community of Medora south west of Brandon had the biggest hail at tennis-ball-sized.
The storm then travelled east and hail storms developed in Treherne, Carman and fired again in Ste. Agathe around 4 a.m. on the 25th.
From these storms, there were a wide range a damage from severe to non-payable claims, varied greatly from what part of the storm cloud you were under.
Who we are:
The Canadian Crop Hail Association (CCHA) has been serving the crop insurance industry in one form or another since 1915. It is a member-driven organization that represents the interests of the Canadian Crop Hail managing general agencies and insurance companies. CCHA member companies write Crop-Hail insurance product totalling approximately $250 million in premium, with liability totalling approximately $5 billion. Our companies service all farmers in the three prairie provinces. These private and government agencies together provide a risk management tool to the Canadian prairie farmer.
What the CCHA does:
Operates as an insurance advisory organization;
Gathers and distributes industry statistics and information to members;
To develop and provide in conjunction with national crop insurance services, provincial insurance superintendents and provincial insurance councils procedures and forms for adjustment of losses;
To conduct research, training and education activities in order to promote improved knowledge and understanding of the appropriate aspects of crop hail insurance.
