Kelly Butler (facing camera), who manages the Preston farmers’ market and owns Helios Farm, says she and other farmers have had to raise prices because of a reduced fruit and vegetable harvest.
Harvest season has begun for many growers, but a water shortage and other weird weather has led to reduced yields for some of those who sell their goods at the weekly Preston Farmers’ Market in Little Italy.
A mild winter, unexpected frosts, and an ongoing drought have helped make 2012 a tough year for farmers, says organic grower Kelly Butler, who manages the Preston Farmers’ Market.
Insects that are usually killed off by cold winters survived this year, causing problems for farmers, especially those who use organic methods, Butler says.
“We’ve been battling the wather as well as the bugs,” says Butler, who operates Helios Farm near Wakefield, Que.
“This year we’ve been most affected by flea beetle, cucumber beetle, and leaf-hopper,” she says. “They’re insects you’d normally see, but we had them in tremendous numbers.”
Most prices won’t change dramatically for consumers, but the impact of unusual weather patterns will be noticeable at community markets, says Brian Hamilton, who represents farmers in Ottawa, Arnprior, Lanark, and Renfrew for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
“It’s been very difficult to grow our local vegetables this year because there’s no water, no rain to make them grow,” says Hamilton.
“Unless the individual farmers managed to irrigate, it was very difficult to grow vegetables this year.”
He also noted that dry weather has prevented pastures and hayfields from growing, forcing farmers to feed their livestock with hay they would otherwise save for winter.
Meanwhile, drought conditions across the Midwest states of the U.S. have contributed to high prices for hay and other grains. Wheat prices alone have increased by one-third since June, Hamilton says.
The last time drought impacted such a wide area in the U.S. was in December 1956, according to data compiled by the U.S. National Climatic Data Centre.
Meanwhile, the Ottawa region saw a period of extremely hot and dry weather this summer that broke records going back more than a century, according to Environment Canada.
Hamilton expressed concern that these weather conditions could be part of a larger problem of global climate change.
“This drought, or this change in weather patterns causes severe impacts,” Hamilton says. “Whether or not it will remain to be long-term, we hope not, because it will definitely hurt us financially if it does.”
Unexpected frosts in April and an early spring also made this year difficult for fruit growers such as Chris Hall, who apple products at the Preston market.
Apple trees normally blossom in late May, but unseasonably warm weather brought out the blossoms more than a month early, says Hall, who operates a farm in Brockville.
But blossoms, which ultimately produce the fruit, can’t withstand sub-zero temperatures. And a sudden series of frosts killed many of them off this year. Some farmers saw their entire crops decimated, Hall says.
“A hundred years of farm, and a guy doesn’t even have one bushel of apples,” says Hall. “It’s just unheard of.”
The drought this summer also stunted the growth of those apples that survived the cold snap, he says. The fruit can’t fully grow without a healthy supply of water, Hall explained.
The low yield has contributed to a 20-per-cent spike in prices, Hall says. But demand remains steady, since the one-on-one contact with shoppers allows him to explain the problems farmers are facing, he says.
“The average consumer just wants a reasonable apple to feed their family and they understand that farming isn’t a manufacturing process where every apple is 100-per-cent red, and 100-per-cent perfect size, and no bruises,” Hall says.
Ontario apple growers produced only one-quarter of their normal crop this year, he says. He estimates that his crop was reduced by 20 per cent.