5 days ago
Interlake cattle producers concerned by dry conditions
Fred DeLaroque's hayfield is, in his words, 'terrible.'
'There was no snow, so there was no runoff. There was no residual moisture in the ground for the crop,' he told Global News.
'There's no growth, and what is here is burning off very quickly.'
High temperatures and little rain have stunted the crop's growth to roughly a third of what it should be for early July, DeLaroque says. He expects to produce fewer than 100 bales from his 140-acre field — the same field that provided 440 bales just last year.
His grazing pastures are equally as dry; without regrowth, he anticipates his 280-head herd of cattle will run out of feed in the next four to six weeks.
'We're not going to have enough feed to carry cattle through, and it's getting to the point now where we're going to probably have to start feeding right away,' he said.
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That means either buying feed, or selling off his herd. Neither is an attractive option for DeLaroque.
'Myself and a number of other people I've talked to… we're going to feed the number of cattle that we've got hay for, and the rest are going to go. We're not going to go through what we did in 2021.'
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That year saw a severe drought that prompted the federal and provincial governments to introduce relief programs, including subsidized feed and transportation costs and issuing hay permits for Crown lands.
Ashern Auction Mart general manager Kirk Kiesman says it led to producers leaving the industry and smaller herds in the area.
'We saw a decrease of 15 to 20 per cent of the cow herd in the Interlake because of the drought. To be sustainable, you know, we can't really see that again,' he said.
Kiesman told Global News the auction house has already sold the herd of a producer who ran out of feed.
'Typically we'd run one sale in August, at the end of August, and then we would be running three sales in September. If the weather continues the way it is right now, we might be putting one on the beginning of August depending on our producers,' he said.
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According to the province's July 2, 2025, Crop Report, conditions in the Interlake 'continue to be dry in most areas and remain a concern for producers. Any precipitation would be welcome in all areas. Crops are shorter than usual, and some acres remain unseeded due to extremely dry conditions.'
Provincial agriculture minister Ron Kostyshyn's office says while the situation isn't as severe as 2021, they're monitoring conditions.
'Ministry of Agriculture staff are in touch with a number of producers in the Interlake, including Mr. DeLaroque. Crop specialists are currently closely monitoring dry conditions in the Interlake,' a spokesperson for Kostyshyn said in an email.
Environment Canada is forecasting chances of showers Wednesday through Friday. DeLaroque welcomes the rain, hopeful the season can turn itself around, but worries the increasing instability in the sector is a deterrent for young producers.
'Ten years ago there was 15 people that I could name to you that were raising cattle — you could almost throw a stone through them — and now there's me,' he said.
'It's the younger generation that once they're discouraged and go to something else, they don't come back… it's a pretty grey industry to begin with, there's not a lot of young people involved.'
