These are trying times for many Prairie producers, with withered crops and parched pastures across wide swaths of the growing region.
To help keep you informed about the issue this page will be continually updated with the latest drought-related news and solutions you can use, produced by The Western Producer’s team of professional reporters and editors from across the region.
If you would like to share images of the drought conditions in your area that we can display on this page, send your images to The Western Producer Facebook page, tweet @westernproducer, or email us at readerphotos@producer.com.
Read Also
Farming Smarter receives financial boost from Alberta government for potato research
Farming Smarter near Lethbridge got a boost to its research equipment, thanks to the Alberta government’s increase in funding for research associations.
Hay West: more hay needed
Organic crops may be more drought resilient
Scientist sounds water crisis alarm
Seed quality looks good despite drought
Trees, drought and climate change
Prairie precipitation predictions: right amounts at the wrong times
Precipitation eases drought worry
Pedigreed seed supplies run short following drought year
Hay West receives more federal funding
Snowfall on Prairies expected to be sufficient this winter
Drought takes big bite out of canola exports
Poll: 75 percent of producers couldn’t deliver on contracts
Precipitation soothes but will not cure
Prairies canola crop pegged at 12.6 million tonnes
Sask. deficit report ignites word exchange
Last season’s drought could cause unpredictable soil N
Researchers continue to fine-tune irrigation
Donated hay from the East continues to move to the Prairies
AgriStability can help ease contract buyout pain
NFU and Wheat Growers want changes to contracts
Grain contracts leave farmers paying to produce
Double whammy: drought and energy prices
Fall rain brought relief to parched Dakotas and Manitoba
October rains bring relief to some, drought persists
Drought increases need for fall soil testing
Alberta producers ask for more provincial assistance
Man. farm group to offer education on production contracts
Durum to increase in ‘fits and starts’
Drought aftermath continues for farmers
Eastern hay arrives on western Canadian farms
Record corn prices expected to offset disappointing yields
Drought expected to affect honey production
Drought affects supply of grass-fed beef
APAS surveys farmers facing tough contract obligations
Canada’s drought forces canola importers to turn elsewhere
Flax crop takes hit
Man. drought far from over despite recent rain
Alta. irrigation districts say system passed drought test
Eastern hay arrives in the West
Drought forces North American ranchers to sell off their future
Rocky Mountain dry: Canada’s waning water supply sows division in farm belt
Sovecon cuts forecast for Russia’s 2021 wheat crop
Exports to bear brunt of short crop
Drought shrinks Canada’s wheat crop to 14-year low, shrivels canola harvest
Hay theft reflects level of farmer desperation
B.C., Ont. cattle producers struggle with dryness
Drought takes bite out of Man. soybean yields
Tour highlights importance of irrigation to southern Alta.
Drought increases Sask. deficit estimate
Livestock Day tackles tight feed supplies
Canola crop estimate plummets
Farming already stressful before drought
Harvest estimates paint a gloomy picture
Make the most of all your acres
Kazakhstan sees 2021 grain crop down 24% due to drought
Hay West boosted spirits, fed a few cows
Funds coming for cattle producers
Sask. crop report: Half of winter wheat, fall rye crops harvested
USDA slashes Canadian canola yield
Megadrought or mega-hype?
U.S. slashes outlook for corn, soybean harvests
Putting this year’s drought into a prairie perspective
Flood of government drought announcements muddies water
Producers call drought aid small first steps
Feds announce $100 million for drought assistance
Lentil demand “tsunami” approaches
More flexibility urged for next ag policy round
How to manage this cruel summer
Assessing the yield impact of severe drought is grim exercise
Finding feed main focus for cattle producers
Cattle producers need money to secure feed
Drought-stricken crops expected to grade lower
Has heat harmed beneficial soil bacterium?
Canola yields expected to be much worse than first thought
Cows will pull you through only if they’re still there
Irrigated hay sold overseas as feed shortage worsens
Canola as green feed requires caution
How to get ready for that tough contract conversation
Alta. municipalities declare states of emergency
Bibeau’s visit highlights widespread scope of drought
Rising grain prices make this drought different
Supply shortage complicates market
Drought aid includes tax deferral, AgriRecovery
Oat supplies to tighten as Man. crop suffers
Grasshoppers pose threat
Sask. soil moisture levels come up short
Precipitation statistics reveal year of struggles
Drought may significantly slash western herd
The Canadian cattle herd is likely to shrink significantly as a lack of feed and water forces producers to sell off breeding stock.
During a town hall meeting organized by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and provincial associations July 19, leaders said cows are already moving to market as producers evaluate how many they can maintain on depleted pastures and with poor hay yields across the Prairies and northwestern Ontario. In British Columbia, fires have hit the main hay producing areas.
Ottawa to trigger AgriRecovery to provide drought help
Federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau will initiate AgriRecovery now that formal requests have come in from provinces affected by heat and drought.
All three prairie provinces have asked for assessments, and British Columbia and Ontario are expected to do the same.
Greenfeed and silage needed in Manitoba
Crop markets wake up to evolving drought disaster
https://t.co/rUj0a9OUnL pic.twitter.com/NCjCdG82Ec
— Kurtis Wandler (@12Wandler) July 28, 2021
Drought creates unhappy learning experience for markets
No time for foot-dragging as drought gets serious
There’s nothing much worse than drought when it comes to agricultural afflictions.
Floods, insects, disease and low market prices aren’t fun either but when the rain stops falling and the mercury soars, nothing grows.
And when nothing grows, there’s not much that can be done.
Farmers need to make the drought matter – to urbanites
With his voice cracking with emotion, Tyler Fulton described a farm family forced to sell-off their cow herd, a herd produced by years of family effort.
For thousands of farmers, this summer’s drought is destroying not only their family’s hopes and dreams, but also their ability to survive on the farm. Without a cow herd they have no way to make money an provide from themselves.
https://www.producer.com/opinion/farmers-need-to-make-the-drought-matter-to-urbanites/
Feds reveal drought aid plans
Alta., Sask. cattle producers ask gov’ts for drought help
Lentils, Warner County, AB pic.twitter.com/4Sn0g4mzuM
— Adam Voss (@voss_ag) July 28, 2021
Sask. groups call for drought aid
Prairies no stranger to damaging droughts
Man. gov’t, farmers form working group on drought
Agriculture Canada takes stab at predicting drought
— Travis Brisebois (@TBrise17) July 28, 2021
Spring wheat futures rally on heat and drought concerns
Drought threatens North Dakota’s wheat crop
Drought worsens water woes
Careful management helps in drought
Drought conditions increase risk of anthrax
Climatolgists ring drought alarm
‘Extreme drought’ expands in Prairies
Volatile market expected as drought looms
First time since 1985 that I gave up on a crop pic.twitter.com/z1pnKjEHie
— Derek Benedict (@Benedictbeef) July 29, 2021
For more content related to drought management visit The Dry Times, where you can find a collection of stories from our family of publications as well as links to external resources to support your decisions through these difficult times.
