British Columbia grain farmer Malcolm Odermatt says he can only hope for rain this spring after repeated droughts last year hampered his harvest.
Odermatt, who is also president of the BC Grain Growers Association, has been working with his father since 2012 to farm about 2,000 acres in the Peace region of northeastern B.C. He said that although he was worried, he was still hopeful that the weather would improve, as sowing usually begins in May.
Odermatt, who grows wheat, barley, oats, canola and pasture for seed production, said: “We're currently in a Class 5 drought, which is actually the highest grade, but the rainfall is also low.'' “There hasn't been much snow,” he said. . “We rely on spring runoff, like snowmelt, to actually replenish soil moisture, and we haven't been able to do that in recent years.”
Farmers and industry analysts in B.C. and beyond say that at a time when farmers are retreating from farms, dramatic changes in weather are hampering yields for grains and other crops, and technology is the only way forward. He says it's about adapting.
Lenore Newman, director of the University of the Fraser Valley's Institute of Food and Agriculture, said many people in Western Canada have an “old McDonald's image” of agriculture that is no longer realistic or sustainable.
“This is a huge, technologically advanced industry and it needs to be treated as such…because the truth is, old McDonald doesn't have a farm. He went bankrupt in the '80s,” she said. .
“If farmers are to overcome constant climate change and grow food, they will need all the technologies available and many that have yet to be invented.”
In Saskatchewan, Christian Hebert operates a 40,000-acre grain and oilseed farm near Moosomin. Despite the poor weather, they managed to grow about 80 percent of their average yield last season, he said.
“Farmers have had to deal with unpredictable weather forever, and we're constantly getting better at it,” he said, adding that seed genetics, modern equipment and climate He praised technological advances such as risk management programs.
Hébert said public and private crop insurance helps keep farmers afloat even in low-yield years.
“This has given farmers some stable income even in poor years, allowing them to continue investing in technology and genetics,” he said.
But Newman said the government should be responsible for researching and funding these agricultural advances.
“One of the technical fields where there is no national funding agency for universities is agriculture,” she says.
“We are investing in climate change research and targeted efforts to support farmers and the agricultural sector,” the federal agriculture ministry said in a statement.
Among those investments is the Canada Agriculture, Agricultural and Food Science Strategic Plan, which allocates $855.7 million for science, research and development in 2024-2025.
Additionally, the Living Laboratories Initiative is a $185 million, 10-year program to “encourage farmers, scientists, and other collaborators to develop innovative practices to address agro-environmental issues, including mitigation and adaptation.” “This will enable us to jointly develop and test technologies with other companies.” Combat climate change, protect soil and water quality, and maximize biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. ”
“The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of supporting a collaborative approach to building a resilient agriculture and produce sector that effectively adapts to climate change,” the ministry said.
But Newman said these programs are a “patchwork quilt” of resources and do not meet all research and development needs.
“The AAFC runs great programs, but many of them are organized around industry and not core research and development like funding bodies (in other sectors),” she said.
“If you are a researcher, there is no place you can apply for core funding to develop long-term, deep research.”
He said the government should continue to invest in such programs, while also supporting cutting-edge “basic research”.
“Sometimes you want to push the envelope and do things that are premature for industry, but other countries would simply be better off if they had access to that kind of funding, and we don't have that.”
Newman said severe weather could be the main reason why about 1 per cent of B.C.'s farmers throw in the towel each year, calling it a “silent crisis.”
“B.C. is really vulnerable because farms tend to be very small and farmers tend to be small-scale producers,” she said, comparing operations in B.C. and the Prairie provinces. “When you lose three or four years, you tend not to make it.”
Statistics Canada's latest 2021 Agriculture Census shows a similar national trend, saying the number of farms nationwide has declined by 1.9 per cent since 2016.
Unstable weather conditions have already devastated the Okanagan's wine crops, as well as cherries, peaches and other stone fruits.
Newman said fortunately for grain farmers, their crops are not as vulnerable as fruits and vegetables.
“We're a grain and pulses powerhouse, so if we start having problems there, that's terrible for us,” she said.
Odermatt said the Peace region, home to more than 90% of the state's grain farmers, has seen “a plethora of severe weather events” in recent years.
“It's been a bit of a roller coaster,” he said.
He said British Columbia's historic heat dome in 2021 forced crops into survival mode. Then, rains in the spring of 2022 restored yields but made it difficult to plant seeds. Then came last year's drought, which wiped out much of the crop.
“We have to work with the weather. The sun has to shine, the rain has to fall and the wind has to blow,” he said.
As for this year, he remains optimistic despite the soil being dry due to the current drought.
“A lot of farmers are worried, but we're optimistic that everything will level out. Maybe suddenly the tap will turn on and we'll get all the moisture we've been missing for the past year. But that's not the case.'' Who knows what the weather will be like. ”
Evan Fraser, director of the Aller Food Institute at the University of Guelph in Ontario, said another good news is that consumers are less affected by lower grain yields than fresh produce.
The main buffer for grains is that they need to be processed before being sold. The effects would have to be turned into flour or bread “before anyone really notices,” he said.
“For example, there's a long way between drought in Alberta and the price someone pays for bread.”
Fraser said the grain is sold on international commodity markets, which “spreads out the risk of crop failure”.
“The likelihood of simultaneous crop failures in Canada, Australia, Ukraine and the United States is low, even under climate change,” he said.
“All of this has the effect of mitigating the effects of severe weather for the consumer, not the farmer.”
Vancouver Island grain farmer Bryce Lashley is a fourth-generation farmer at Saanichton Farms, which farms approximately 1,000 acres in 90 locations across Greater Victoria.
Unlike Odermatt, who exports grain to Vancouver, Lashley sells his product locally as animal feed, as well as to breweries and bakeries.
Mr Lashley said last year's crop of grains, including wheat and barley, was one of the lowest, but customers were just beginning to be affected. This is because the grain has a long shelf life and 2022 was a bumper year with the potential for higher yields than ever before, he said.
“You have a choice: you can treat some (customers) preferentially, or you can treat everyone equally and everyone disappears at the same time,” he said. “That's what I decided to do, so now they're all gone and I'm looking for other sources.”
Now, Lashley said he is looking ahead.
Recent snowfall along British Columbia's west coast has improved soil moisture, which is promising, but it remains to be seen whether we will have a good grain harvest or whether customers will continue to have to move to other areas. He said a decision would be made in six weeks.
“For now, we can expect a bumper harvest.”
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This is the final episode of “B.C.'s Bitter Harvest,” a three-part series examining how the weather and climate crisis is impacting agriculture and how farmers and others are charting a path forward.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2024.
Brianna Charlebois, Canadian Press
