Maritime farmers assess damage from summer drought, look to next year
CBC
The Maritimes suffered through intense drought conditions this summer that left farmers with lower crop yields and, in some cases. feeling already set back as they look ahead to the coming year.
Among those who saw lower yields is Kent Coates, owner of Nature's Route Farm near Sackville in southeastern New Brunswick.
“We've got about half as much storage crop going into the storage facilities as we would have normally had or as we wanted,” said Coates, whose farm produces carrots and potatoes, among other vegetables,
Coates said he's used to relying on 20 to 25 millimetres of rain a week from mid-June to mid-September, but this year the area didn't get 30 mm that entire stretch.
In what proved a difficult twist, Coates had a record year for sales, and he couldn't fulfil them all.
“We've got a whole bunch of new clients on board, and now we don't have enough product to hold us through the winter. So it's rather unfortunate.”
Elsewhere in the Maritimes, potato growers took a hit.
Greg Donald, the general manager of the P.E.I. Potato Board, said that across the Island, yield was down between 15 and 20 per cent and for some farms, 30 per cent.
“We had very little rain and it was hot, dry, windy and it was, I'll say, a stark reminder how vulnerable we are … when we get conditions like that,” Donald said.
Coates hopes for a better 2026 season but having to constantly irrigate has set him back for next year.
He didn’t get the time to cultivate his farm, meaning the ground isn’t ready to go for next season.
He’ll also start with no vegetables in storage for customers.
“We're anticipating 2026 to be much more challenging to start off than 2025. We didn't have enough time to get some strategic projects done last summer because we were watering so much.”
Coates said the water table is low after he used irrigation ponds on his crops. Half a week's worth of water is left in one pond, and the other pond is still below where it should be.
A 32-year-old man faces drug and firearms charges following a three-month investigation by Northwest Territories RCMP.
The federal Leaders' Debates Commission says it has settled with the Green Party after the party vowed to challenge its removal from the spring election debates.
With 2025 drawing to a close and Calgarians looking ahead to the new year, many can expect living in the city to become a bit more expensive — at least in some respects.
CBC London captured moments in 2024 that highlight people, stories and events from our community. These are the most-watched videos from this past year.
At least one man is dead and police are searching for two armed men on Big Island Lake Cree Nation, CBC News has learned.
This year, unlike many Canadian cities, Calgary won't be offering free transit on the evening of New Year’s Eve.
Canada's cold crunch is continuing into Tuesday after a winter storm slammed Ontario and Quebec, wreaking havoc on the roads and leaving tens of thousands without power.
A train derailment over the weekend in Quebec is disrupting services in Labrador West for at least a week.
One of the most prominent figures in Canadian curling over the last decade is bidding farewell to the sport.
Henry and Charlotte are the most popular baby names in Nova Scotia for 2025, according to data released by the provincial government.
Premier Susan Holt says she doesn’t have an explanation for why regulators, policy experts and others responsible for gas price regulation didn’t clue in to a simple way to lower prices for consumers until the end of 2025.
The new year will be bringing with it Toronto’s first traffic czar.
For the first time in 111 years, items once belonging to the late Albert Mullins were back in the hands of his family members thanks to the detective work of one Montreal historian.