Extreme heat impacting vegetable crops

By Alexandra Noad - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on August 9, 2024.

Herald photo by Alexandra Noad Vendors from an area Hutterite colony sell local produce this Wednesday at the Downtown Farmers' Market at Festival Square.

Southern Alberta is home to many farmers. With the recent heat wave, it leads one to wonder how the heat has affected farms and their crops.

Paul de Jonge, owner of Broxburn Farms, says they have felt the effects of the extreme heat especially with their strawberry plants.

“When temperatures are above 30 degrees and the strawberry don’t make many flowers, so that’s a problem because you can go now with flowers, then you don’t have fruit in three weeks,” said de Jonge.

Broxburn farms was established in 1996 and was originally a u-pick strawberry farm. Later, a greenhouse and cafe were built. Today Broxburn Farms produces various fruits and vegetables including one of the largest commercial broccoli crops in Alberta.

It’s not just the strawberries which are suffering. Even with weekly replanting the broccoli grows too quickly to be harvested.

“We plant broccoli every week so hopefully we can harvest every week. But when it’s that hot, then sometimes it grows too fast,” said de Jonge.

While some plants may be struggling in the heat, others such as corn and cabbage are thriving.

De Jonge is used to heat waves in Alberta and while this one may have come earlier than expected, it’s not unusual for there to be at least one very hot week each year.

“We had a pretty good stretch there for two weeks where it was over 30s. We seem to get it almost every year, maybe not quite as long. Sometimes it is for a week and then it cools again. So, I’m not saying it’s a lot worse than other years, but the timing may be different,” said de Jonge.

While Broxburn Farms have had some losses with the recent heat wave, de Jonge says it will not impact the prices of their crops as they set their prices at the beginning of each season to adjust for inflation.

With cooler temperatures expected for the next couple of weeks de Jonge is optimistic about his crops, especially with there being a couple months of the season left.

“we’re in the middle of the season and the heat is not being kind to the strawberries, but we’re still hopeful there’s still a lot to come,” said de Jonge.

Broxburn Farms is five kilometres east of Lethbridge.

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