CARSTAIRS, Alta. – A few scattered yellow blossoms are all that remain for crop adjusters assessing the damage to canola crops battered by storms last week.
Two severe hailstorms swept through the Carstairs area in central Alberta Aug. 2 and battered crops and property until they fizzled out near Warner in the southeast.
Barley, wheat and canola fields were reduced to jagged stubble. The few discernible pods and heads were flattened into the ground.
It is estimated more than one million acres were affected.
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Peggy Reid of Cremona, Alta., said her family was awakened at 1:30 a.m. Aug 2 as hail beat on their home and destroyed most of their barley crop in a 16 kilometre wide swath where hailstones ranging in size from peas to golf balls beat down everything in the way.
“The crop has pretty well had it. We’ll have two days of combining this year,” she said.
Drifts of hail remained on the north side of her house until Aug. 6, when the last finally melted in the cool, cloudy days that followed.
The Reid family also runs a major hay operation, which seemed to escape the most severe parts of the storm. About half of the hay had been baled and the rest needs to be cut.
“It will be our life saver if we can get the rest of it,” Reid said.
Carstairs took a serious hit with about 900 homes damaged. The north sides of buildings with vinyl siding are so badly pockmarked that they look like they have been riddled with bullet holes. Cars and other property were also damaged.
While there were no reports of injured livestock, the storm wiped out what could have been potential feed supplies, said beef specialist Brenda Ralston of Alberta Agriculture.
Ralston, who farms near Airdrie, Alta., lost an entire crop and saw cattle bolt through fence lines. The storm lasted about 20 minutes when it struck her home at 2 a.m.
“It’s depressing in a year when there is so little feed,” she said.
An army of about 120 crop insurance adjusters were expected to start assessing damage from the two storms Aug. 10, said Chris Dyck, manager of insurance operations for Agriculture Financial Services Corp. More than 1,500 claims have been received so far, he added.
The insurer is relying on farmer information to determine the extent of the storm, which started west of Olds, Alta., and swept southeast to Airdrie, Strathmore, Vulcan and Warner.
The storm ranged from seven to 50 km wide and caused variable damage.
“In the main path of the storm there are reports of severe damage and there are reports of light damage probably more on the fringes of the storm,” Dyck said.
Farmers have told him there is not enough crop left in some places to rake up by hand.
“The storm hit a part of the province that did have some fairly decent crops,” he said.
“It is not unusual for us to have a storm with that many claims. Usually once a year there is a storm of that magnitude. It has actually been a light year for us up to this point.”
The corporation has been busy this summer taking a heavier than normal load of pre-harvest inspection calls as farmers report dismal crops that failed to thrive due to a cold spring and drought.
“Drought is a slow painful process,” Dyck said.
“Hail is worse because you see a crop there and you go to bed at night and it’s gone.”
About 12 million acres of cropland are insured for various hazards, and Alberta producers may opt for a hail endorsement policy. Many farmers carry such a policy because a major storm is expected every year. Farmers pay only 45 percent of what it would cost to buy hail coverage on its own.
While local residents say this storm is the worst anyone can remember in 50 years, Environment Canada reported unprecedented crop hail losses in 2008 when the Canadian Crop Hail Association made record payments to prairie producers of more than $341 million. This was more than four times the previous five year average.
More than 29,000 claims were filed that year on the Prairies, with most coming from Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Last year also saw the highest total payout to Alberta farmers – $98.6 million or 47 percent more than what was collected from premiums.
Hail insurance payouts to Saskatchewan growers were the highest in history last year at $228 million. Nearly 21,000 claims were filed.
