Farmers estimate 10 per cent of their acres lost to flooding

Farmers are dealing with the aftermath of recent heavy rainfall and bracing for more. CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson reports.

Farmers in the Edmonton area are expecting about a 10-per cent loss due to June’s rainfall, which could reach a record amount by the end of the month.

“Four or five inches of rain at a time (is) too much,” Thorhild County farmer Chris Allam told CTV News Edmonton.

He pointed to pools of water sitting in low spots of an oat field during an interview on Thursday.

“Some of these areas won’t come back….We’re going to flood back up to the area we were (in 2020), and what that means is more lost nutrients and more lost soil organic matter,” he said.

“It’s compounding effects probably for the next year at this point.”

The field was seeded a month ago, which was a little later than is ideal because the conditions were already wet at that point. Now, the plants are behind and the field needs to be sprayed for weeds, but remains too muddy to host heavy equipment without causing ruts.

Allam farms about 17,000 acres. The fields that are located in Thorhild County are between 15 and 50 per cent flooded, he estimated.

“The first 10 per cent that’s gone, that’s the profit. So anything after that, you’re looking at red net revenues.”

Camrose-area farmer Humphrey Banack also estimated 10-per cent of his acres will be drowned. The benefit, he noted, is that the rain would fill up the local soil moisture reserves.

“We all know that hot August nights are coming and this extra soil reserve of moisture may prove beneficial at that time,” Banack told CTV News Edmonton.

Both producers say little of their loss will be passed on to consumers in the form of price hikes; fuel prices are expected to impact grocery store stickers more than the rain.

But there is a broader economical effect, Allam noted.

“I’m not spending as much money at the (United Farmers of Alberta). I’m not going out and buying building materials to build a new shed that I need… so I affect the economy just like oil and gas does, or anybody does.”

More rain is forecast for the region over the weekend and could set a record for June.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Geoff Hastings and Amanda Anderson