From cold snap to drought and rain, weather continues to affect crops throughout Nova Scotia

It’s been a tough year for agriculture in the province, and while things aren’t getting any better, the president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture says there is still some optimism that things could change for some farmers.

“It has been a very mixed six months,” said Allan Melvin on Monday.

The February freeze wreaked havoc on grapes, raspberries, peaches, cherries and plums, with initial fears that more than the entire crop of some grape varieties may have been wiped out.

Last week, the damage from all the rain in June was visible on the strawberry fields, where the daily rain prevented picking and caused some fruit to rot on the plants or fall victim to mould. Those persistently wet days followed drought-like conditions in May, forcing many farmers to irrigate heavily, in some cases depleting their water supplies. There was also a series of frosts in May.

Melvin, whose family grows lettuce and cauliflower, said they had to throw many transplants on the compost heap because they couldn’t get into the sodden fields to plant them.

“Probably eight to 10 percent of our sales aren’t even planted,” he said.

The crops in the fields have also faced many challenges, he said, because the water-compacted soil keeps air out of the soil that the plants need, preventing them from absorbing nutrients effectively and efficiently.

Crops that are due to be harvested soon, such as broccoli and cauliflower, will be affected by the wet weather in terms of yield and quality. Yields can be up to 50 percent lower than the current plantings ready for harvest.

Melvin said that with broccoli, multiple heads can be bundled together to get an amount close to the size consumers are used to in a bunch, meaning fewer cases per acre and therefore less income.

“You’re covering a lot more ground by using a lot more plants to get the same yield to the consumer at the end of the day, so efficiency is lost and costs start to add up pretty quickly.”

But with cauliflower, “you can’t heap heads. You have one cup and it goes on the shelf or stays on the floor,’ Melvin said. “If it’s not a top-notch head, it doesn’t go in the box.”

The weather has also slowed growth and in some cases drowned out parts of fields where nothing can be harvested, Melvin said, because plants have essentially suffocated underwater or in the water-compacted soil.

And in crops that need to be sprayed to prevent disease or insects, the rain prevented that because it would just wash the spray away.

Melvin said the high humidity and high levels of moisture keep apple growers working nonstop to keep mold and fungus off their trees. .”

He said the weather pendulum swung hard to one side in May and the other in June. There should be softer fluctuations, with rain and then some periods of dry weather to help the plants grow.

“It seems to be all or nothing this year,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a peak year for anyone based on the way things have gone, but hopefully we can right the ship a little bit and get the crops off the fields that are there and put them on the shelves for people .

There are other effects that have yet to be determined, including on hay mowing, which cannot happen in prolonged wet weather.

While insurance is available for many crops, in some cases it can be expensive and more than a farmer can afford without raising the wholesale price beyond what stores and consumers will pay.

While ad hoc tools are often made available, “they are not sufficient to respond to the new realities we face each year. I think they need a deep dive and a hard look to make sure we have good policies and programs going forward to support farms and make sure we have a viable, sustainable and safe food system.”

In an emailed statement, provincial agriculture minister Greg Morrow said strawberry growers are experiencing harvest, storage quality and disease issues.

“The department is working with extension specialists at Perennia, growers and with commodity associations to determine the extent of the problem and any losses across the province,” the statement said. “Through our partnership with Perennia, all high value crops for Nova Scotia are monitored during the growing season, including grapes, wild blueberries, apples, maple and vegetables.

That statement also stated that the consequences of climate change are a point of attention for the agriculture department and the agricultural sector in the province.

“We have worked with the Department of Environment and Climate Change to develop climate action plans for major industries such as horticulture, beef and dairy and Christmas trees and we are now working to support implementation,” said Morrow. “We are also supporting emergency preparedness with program funding from the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal/provincial agreement we announced earlier this year to help the agricultural sector.”