Hail, heavy rain and wind damage southern Alberta crops after excellent growing season start
Farmer Leroy Newman estimates 85 to 90 per cent of his 1,800-hectare operation received major damage in the weekend storms.
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Rain, wind and hail — some stones approaching the size of billiard balls — pounded areas of southern Alberta over the weekend, hitting crops that were coming in strong after a wet spring and start to the summer.
"It was going beautifully — timely rain and the crops were looking fantastic … phenomenal," said Leroy Newman, who farms near Blackie, Alta., while surveying his crops on Monday. "Two hours later, it happened. I kind of jinxed myself."
Newman's family has grown wheat, canola and barley for more than a century. He now estimates 85 to 90 per cent of his 1,800-hectare operation received a high degree of damage in storms that pelted his area and wide regions of southern Alberta with hail, damaging wind and up to 50 millimetres of rain.
Calgary-based storm chaser Matt Melnyk described the scene as "pretty wild" as he headed to Hanna, east of Red Deer, to photograph huge, ominous clouds that blanketed hail on the landscape. "It was everywhere," he told reporters. "I use a golf ball and I used the pool ball to compare. It wasn't quite as big as a pool ball, but it was almost there."
One storm travelled from Calgary all the way to Moose Jaw 600 kilometres away. The Alberta Financial Services Corporation, which offers crop insurance, said the extent and scope of the damage may not be fully known for 14 days — the deadline for producers to report damage.
