When rain showers finally arrived in southern Alberta, the Doenz family stood at the window and watched it fall.
“We had no rain whatsoever till Aug. 30,” said Paula Doenz from her Warner ranch. That weekend shower left 12 millimetres and offered a brief respite from the worst drought since 1936.
Across the south, precipitation measured anywhere from 12 to 76 mm since April 1.
While most were grateful for what they received, it may not be enough to get many ranchers through the winter.
The Doenzes weaned their calves last week and will start feeding them rather than send them to auction as many of their neighbors have done. They have silage on hand and are looking for cheap hay to get them through the winter.
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“We’re hoping for snow or we will really be in trouble,” she said.
This summer’s drought strained irrigation reservoirs and dugouts. Small oases of green appeared wherever water fell. The rest of the region remained tinder dry.
“Never has the demarcation between irrigated and dryland been so obvious,” said Stan Klassen of the Alberta Irrigation Projects Association.
Reservoirs held up but in the far south in the Cardston district, water supplies were turned off early. The taps may go on later this fall to replenish dugouts.
“Our reservoirs are, for all intents and purposes, empty,” he said.
Rob Dunn, of Alberta Agriculture in Lethbridge, said the rain helped pastures rebound and encouraged regrowth on some hay fields. The rain may be enough to consider planting winter wheat to save some fields from erosion.
The rain tapered off toward Medicine Hat where the harvest is complete. Less than 25 mm was recorded in the district.
The Medicine Hat region generally receives between 100 and 130 mm of rain between April and September. This year it got about 50 mm for the same period.
For many, the showers were enough to reduce the fire hazard in pastures and wheat fields.
“Farmers had a water truck and a disk in the field while combining,” Dave Spencer of Alberta Agriculture said.
The harvest is generally complete in this area with little to show for a year’s investment. While protein levels are generally better than average for the 2000 harvest, yields are disappointing. The most severe yield losses were on stubble at less than 10 bushels per acre, said Spencer.
Wheat and peas on summerfallow produced around 20 bu. an acre, but many samples contained shriveled kernels and low bushel weights.
Pastures remain brown and some hayfields were never cut. Instead, cattle were allowed to graze them. Dugouts are dry, so farmers are hauling water for livestock as well domestic use. More pumping happened this summer, although only if farmers had a source of water to draw on, said Spencer.
Agriculture minister Ty Lund has toured parts of the region and will swing by the southeastern corner Sept. 18 to inspect conditions there. The province expects to announce an aid package later this month.
