Submitted by the Canadian Crop Hail Association
Overview
Hot and dry weather continues to be the theme for the summer across the prairies.
Crops are stressed and stunted across much of the southern regions in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Extreme dry conditions persist further south with the western half of North Dakota experiencing severe or exceptional drought conditions.
Though several storms across the three provinces have been triggered by this prolonged heatwave, the storms have produced little rainfall in the areas that desperately need moisture.
Six tornadoes touched down in central and southeastern Saskatchewan in one day last week, with no reported structural damage. Additionally, a tornado was confirmed near Bretton in Alberta last week. Hail was associated with all of these storms and crops did suffer as a result.
Crop conditions show signs of improvement the further north you travel in Alberta and Saskatchewan as those regions have received a lot more rainfall compared to areas in the south.
Alberta
July has been hot, dry and windy across much of the province, with southern Alberta experiencing extreme heat on some occasions.
As a result, annual crop conditions reported the week of July 11 have deteriorated in the south with an estimated average condition of only 63 per cent rated good to excellent (the five-year average is 76 per cent).
The weather conditions have rapidly advanced crops in the south but also depleted soil moisture to a rating of only 27 per cent noted as good or excellent. Dryland crops, especially those in flowering stage, are showing signs of stress, while irrigated crops are benefiting from the warmer temperatures.
Crops in central Alberta also declined in condition to 74 per cent rated good to excellent, but was still above the five-year average of 68 per cent. Lack of moisture and prolonged heat have started to affect both the quality and yield of crops in the central regions.
Little change in condition ratings was seen in the other areas: The northeast area was at 82 per cent and still above the five-year average of 78 per cent, while northwest and Peace area conditions remain lower than normal, at 59 per cent and 67 per cent respectively (the average sits at 76 per cent and 67 per cent), due to excessive moisture issues from winter and spring.
There are a few areas in the Peace region with crops starting to deteriorate and need some rain, but overall crop development in the northeast, northwest and Peace areas is advancing rapidly and recent conditions have been beneficial for crop development.
Pasture and tame hay ratings across Alberta have declined, but are still reported as 68 per cent being good or excellent. South area pasture conditions have the worst ratings with only 42 per cent rated as good to excellent, with central regions only rated as 51 per cent good or excellent.
Dryland hay first cut across Alberta is approximately 80 per cent finished with yields estimated at anywhere from a low 1.3 tons per acre in the south and up to a healthy 3.4 tons in the northwest area, and all very good quality. Irrigated hay is nearly complete with yields reported around 2.8 tons per acre, also with very good quality.
Significant hail storms over the past couple of weeks include:
• July 9 – a hail storm rolled through Mayerthorpe and Neerlandia communities with marble-sized hail, moderate winds and 2.5 inches of rain that caused medium damage to crops. Another severe storm front went through Eagle Hill, Olds and Torrington area with very strong winds, heavy rains and jagged fist-sized hail stones which caused medium damage to several thousand acres of crops.
• July 10 – Widespread hail activity in and around the communities of Bow Island, Coutts, Magrath, Milk River, Warner, Pincher Creek and Carmangay. That storm reported pe- to marble-sized hail and up to 1.5 inches of rain.
• July 12 – Didsbury, Carstairs Cremona and Olds areas suffered heavy hail damage from golf ball-sized hail, strong winds and more than an inch of rain.
• July 13 – A severe storm with a tornado touch down at Bretton, also carried walnut-sized hail causing moderate damage and also went through the communities of Warburg, Thorsby and Leduc. A second storm went through the communities of Athabasca, Thorhild, St. Paul, St. Lina and St. Eduard causing heavy crop damage from marble to golf ball-sized hail and strong winds.
• July 15 – Hail came in on strong winds and caused heavy damage to crops in the areas of Guy, Donnelly, Falher, McLennan, Girouxville and High Prairie.
• July 16 – Thousands of acres in a large area encompassing Camrose, Daysland, Holden, Viking, Tofield, New Norway, Minburn, Vermillion and Irma areas were damaged by marble to golf ball-sized hail and strong winds. A separate wicked storm with strong winds, up to golf ball-sized hail and an inch of rain hit communities from Eckville, Sylvan Lake and Red Deer to Delburne. The damage reports from this storm are varied with some crops suffering only mild damage and others quite severe with plants chopped up by the hail.
• July 23 – Golf ball-sized hailstones were found in a storm that passed through the Wetaskiwin Valley region.
Saskatchewan
Environment Canada confirmed six tornadoes touched down in various parts across central and southern Saskatchewan on July 21. Anywhere from pea-sized to golf ball-sized hailstones were associated with these severe storms.
There were two tornadoes spotted north of Lanigan, one north of the BHP Jansen Mine, one near the village of Quill Lake, one near Fishing Lake and one between Wapella and Rocanville, with no damage reported.
However, many areas in the province remain very dry and crop conditions continue to decline due to hot temperatures and lack of rain. Pasture conditions continue to decline due to the lack of rainfall.
Many areas in southeast Saskatchewan have not received more than three inches of rain since April 1, leading to severely stressed crops that are flowering a lot earlier than usual.
Despite the lack of moisture, however, the majority of crops are at their normal stage of development for this time of year.
Much of the province received very little, if any, rain through mid-July. However, the Pelly area reported receiving 60 millimetres. Many areas have not received any significant rain for several weeks.
Topsoil moisture is quickly deteriorating and rain is needed for crops to fill and for topsoil to be replenished. Across the province, topsoil moisture on cropland is rated as three per cent surplus, 32 per cent adequate, 43 per cent short and 22 per cent very short.
A few regions received hail, including in and around Saskatoon and areas south near Hanley, Outlook and Delisle.
As well, the southeast region of the province at Halbrite, Midale, Weyburn, Lampman, Torquay, Estevan, Bienfait, Alameda and Frobisher all reported hail with various storms. Hail was associated with storms in the southwest, too, near Eatonia, Kyle and Eastend.
Hail was reported near Biggar, Handle, Dodsland, Kerrobert, Landis, Langham, Tramping Lake and Warman.
Manitoba
Manitoba has been fairly quiet since July 9 in terms of hail storms. There have been a handful of scattered storms that resulted in only a few claims near Langruth and along the west side of Lake Manitoba and up towards Winnipegosis on July 11. On the same day, there were a few reports of hail south of Swan River as well. All of these claims of resulted in minor indemnities.
The most recent storm that resulted in a number of claims happened on July 19 in the area north of Deloraine and south of Virden and Souris. So far there have been 43 claims registered with the extent of the damage still unclear.
With the July 19 storm, there were reports of up to three inches of rain in the Hartney and Melita areas. As the storm travelled east the amount of rain decreased to a fairly general rain of half an inch. As you travel north to Portage la Prairie and the TransCanada Highway the rain stopped and the area remains dry. Most areas would welcome a rain but it is not critical at this point yet.
To date there have been 588 claims registered, and that number could increase with the damage from the July 19 storm still being determined.
According to the most recent Crop Report from July 17 from Manitoba Agriculture, the above normal temperatures throughout most of the region continue to advance crops. While rain fell in much of the province last week, areas in central and western Manitoba would benefit from rain.
The majority of acres and crop types are in the flowering and grain fill stages of development. In drier areas moisture is needed for pasture and hay crop regrowth.
Disease and insect pressure remains low but continues to be monitored as the growing season progresses.
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.
