Canada In Grips Of Worst Drought In 50 Years

According to USAgNet, the worst drought in 50 years for Western Canada’s grain-growing region means farmers will likely reap smaller crops than the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) had estimated. Dryness and earlier cool temperatures have slowed crop growth in an area stretching across central Alberta into central Saskatchewan. The area usually accounts for 15% of Western Canada’s spring wheat crop, said Bruce Burnett, the CWB’s director of weather and market analysis.

A Prairie drought recently came seven years ago, when farmers produced just 14.6 million metric tons of all-wheat, compared with the current five-year average of 23 million tons.

Drought is also hurting cattle ranchers, who are paying higher feed costs because of the poor condition of pastures. Ranchers had already been thinning their herds because of other pressures, like country of origin labeling (COOL) in the U.S.