Severe storm destroys crops | Tornadoes wreak havoc across southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba
Severe weather that slammed southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba has ended harvest hopes for some farmers.
Hail losses ranged from light to 100 percent in an area from Weyburn, Sask., to Pipestone, Man., from the July 13 storms.
Murray Bantle, chair of the Canadian Crop Hail Association and chief operating officer of Co-operative Hail Insurance Co., said claims had come in from areas reaching just west of Winnipeg.
“We’re going to be busy guys,” he said, referring to adjusters.
At least two tornadoes were confirmed in Saskatchewan. One was seen about 14 kilometres south of Minton and another near Redvers. The possibility that a tornado had struck in Pipestone, where the skating rink, community hall and hundreds of trees were damaged, had not yet been confirmed.
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Manitoba premier Greg Selinger toured the community July 15 to see the damage first-hand.
The reeve of the Saskatchewan Rural Municipality of Griffin, about 30 kilometres east of Weyburn, said he was positive a tornado went through a yard south of the community.
Stacey Lund said crop losses in the region are significant and many will be a total loss.
“No doubt about it,” he said. “You can adjust it out the truck window.”
He estimated 60 to 70 percent on his crops will be complete writeoffs, with the rest at 30 to 80 percent.
“Really there’s nothing untouched south of Highway 13 where we farm,” he said.
His barley and wheat crops were headed and nothing remains. Canola was in full flower, and he has little hope it will recover.
“These plants are sawed in half six different ways and drove into the ground. (The hail) took it from waist-high and headed or full-flower to zero flowers and chopped up like a salad.”
Hail ranging from the size of quarters to the size of grapefruits was reported in the storm band.
Grain bins are strewn throughout the region and several houses were damaged. Windows and their casings were smashed and farm equipment mirrors were broken. Hail punched holes in vinyl siding.
Earl Duncan’s yard near Griffin, Sask., sustained the worst damage that Lund had heard about.
The wind destroyed a machine shed and drove the lumber from it through the walls of the house. It also blew over pumpjacks near Manor, Sask., and drove rail cars off the siding at Carnduff, Sask.
Lund said there are a lot of dead birds on the ground and he believes livestock that couldn’t get to shelter must be bruised after being hit with such large hail for several minutes.
Haying operations were already running late in the area and now cattle producers have lost their hay crops.
Lund said he hopes to get his destroyed cereals baled for his cattle. He needs more than 2,000 bales to get through the winter.
“We’ve got a hundred and some made, and our hay got nailed into the ground,” he said.
Lund added that most farmers in his area have crop insurance or spot-loss hail coverage and will at least get some money. However, the payments won’t come close to what the crop would have been worth.
He said it was one of the most beautiful crops he’s ever seen.
“It’s pretty demoralizing,” he said.
Meanwhile, in southern Alberta farmers continue to assess damage after four hailstorms affected a region from the Blood Reserve to Bow Island earlier this month.
Varying levels of damage were reported to all crops when hail ranging from pea to golf ball-sized ice chunks pummeled fields.
Corn grower David Jensen said about 450 acres of fresh corn were affected near Taber, and most has not yet been appraised by crop adjusters.
He said some corn will be ready for consumption by Aug. 1 but most fields will be delayed by a week to 10 days and overall yield will be reduced.
Potato Growers of Alberta executive director Terence Hochstein said most crops would recover, although gravity and yield will be reduced in crops over a wide area.
“We’re going to need an open fall,” he said, noting hail will delay maturity and bring frost threats into the harvest equation.
He estimated between 3,500 and 4,000 acres of potatoes were affected by hail, ranging from slight damage to major losses.
Canola crops also sustained extensive damage, according to Autumn Holmes-Saltzman of the Canola Council of Canada. Many acres in southern Alberta were not insured for hail.
However, because the storms occurred at flowering, some crops will have time to flower again. Depending on severity of damage, some might even increase yield as they overcompensate for plant injury.
“We’ll have to see what happens this week,” said Holmes-Saltzman. With 10 or more days of recovery time since the last severe storm, it will be easier to assess overall crop effects.
Bantle added that as long as the growth point on canola plants isn’t damaged some crops will recover.
And while severe storm events grab headlines, he reminded producers that it is July. Most of southern Saskatchewan was under a tornado watch July 15 with the potential for more damage.
“It hails almost every day in July somewhere,” he said.
