'Multi-million dollar rain' revives soil in southern Saskatchewan ahead of farm season
CBC
After several consecutive years of drought in Saskatchewan, the first heavy rainfall of the year has given life to farmers' soil in southern parts of the province.
Ian McCreary's fields near Bladworth, Sask., about 90 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon, have been dry for at least the past three years. He has about 1,300 acres of land — about 900 being cropland and the remainder being for hay, pasture and wetlands.
In 2021, some sections of the Prairies experienced the worst drought in 50 years. McCreary said he's had more rain in the past 10 days than in two of the last three years.
"This is probably the first time you could say that a multi-million dollar rain happens the first of May, because usually you're looking for those in June, but we were so dry that this one is huge for the whole industry," he said.
McCreary said he has measured more than 80 millimetres of rain in the past week, an "exceptional" amount that has a chance of saving his pasture and hay land.
"I think the moisture that came through here was pretty generous relative to lots of areas. We feel pretty blessed right now."
Farther south, about 20 kilometres north of the Canada-U.S. border, farmers are just as thankful.
As of noon CST Monday, Coronach, Sask., about 160 kilometres southwest of Regina, had recorded about 40 millimetres of rain over a 36-hour period, according to Environment Canada.
"I don't think we could have ordered it any better," said Derek Axten, a grain farmer with about 4,450 hectares of land around Minton, Sask., about 70 kilometres east of Coronach.
Rain has been falling steadily on Axten's fields, a welcome sight after winter brought less snow moisture than he and his wife had hoped.
Last year's drought took a toll on them, he said, but now moods are high for the Axtens and other farmers in the area.
The air even smells better.
"There's something, mentally, about it when we get rain, because when you go through a drought you start to wonder if it's going to rain again, or if it's going to get back into some kind of a wet cycle," he said.
"For us, there's a big sigh of relief when we get a rain like this."
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