June drought conditions caused multiple counties in southern Alberta and Peace Region to declare a state of agricultural disaster as high temperatures and low precipitation intensified drought conditions.
Last week, Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada released the drought conditions for the month of June.
Data from the Canadian Drought Monitor showed the overall drought conditions increased and expanded in severity for Alberta and throughout the prairie provinces, and temperature remained above normal throughout the month.
Producers in counties throughout southern Alberta and the Peace Region have “had to have had to abandon crops and/or sell off livestock as a result of a lack of precipitation as well as inaccessible water and lack of feed supply.”
Precipitation in the Southern and Peace Region of Alberta has been well-below the average.
“Southern Alberta received less than 40 per cent of normal precipitation this month, with large portions receiving less than 20 mm of rain,” the report said.
Extreme drought conditions expanded in June. Data from the CDM showed extreme drought conditions covered over 50 per cent of the southern portion of the province, from south of Red Deer towards Medicine Hat and Lethbridge.
While the Southern and Peace portions of the province were declaring states of emergency due to drought, the west-central portion saw local states of emergencies due to flooding during a two day storm event.
Significant rainfall in the west-central Alberta improved soil and crop conditions and “led to improvement to moderate and severe drought (D1 and D2) in the area, with some abnormally dry (D0) also pulled away from Hinton, west of Edmonton.
“While this part of the province received most of the rain, scattered showers occurred in all regions across Alberta this month,” the report said.
The Prairie Region, which includes Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, had abnormally ary (D0) or in moderate to extreme drought (D1 to D3), in 83 per cent of the region. This included 90 per cent of the prairie region’s agricultural landscape, according to the report.
Extreme drought conditions in the region expanded in the month of June and covered three per cent of the region, an increase of one per cent reported in May.
“Overall, 60 per cent of the country was classified as abnormally dry or in moderate to extreme drought, including 76 per cent of the country’s agricultural landscape,” the report read.
