Forest fire near Murray River, P.E.I, contained

 Crews will remain at the scene to monitor hot spots

CBC News · Posted: Aug 08, 2020 12:49 PM AT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Fire crews have contained a fire that broke out near Murray River, P.E.I., on Friday afternoon.

A forest fire that broke out near Murray River Friday afternoon is contained and crews are continuing to monitor hot spots.

The fire call came around 3:30 p.m. Friday, only hours after the province's fire weather index had reached extreme or very high across Prince Edward Island. 

Crews monitoring forest fire in Murray River, hope to reopen road before dark

"The main challenges were the swampy area and the terrain," said Chris Somers, deputy chief with Murray River's fire department. 

"With the peat bog … it can go into the ground a little bit and it's really difficult to put out, to distinguish."

RCMP Const. Robert Honkoop told CBC News on Friday that the wind direction changed twice during the battle to put out the flames, adding to the difficulties.

RCMP originally posted a tweet urging the public "to use alternate routes" along Route 17 about one kilometre east of Route 4 to give crews the necessary space to work.

The road has since been reopened, say Montague RCMP. 

'Terrific support'

Somers praised the efforts of volunteers from the surrounding area in fighting the fire.

"We couldn't have put it out without them," he said. "It was just too much for our small department to handle."

The community also played a role. Somers said pizzas were delivered, sandwiches were made and even mechanics came out to ensure all equipment remained in working condition. 

"We had terrific support," he said.

Murray River Fire Chief Troy Ferguson said forestry crews are doing a sweep of the area. He said fire crews will remain on scene for the next few days.

Hay shortage means herd downsizing for some New Brunswick farmers

 

Some producers hopeful second and third cuts will be better

Gail Harding · CBC News · Posted: Aug 08, 2020 9:00 AM AT | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

Lisa Ashworth, president of the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick said if there was steady rain now and good weather in September it would help producers.

A lack of rain during a crucial growing period may leave many farmers across New Brunswick without the amount of hay they need to keep their herds fed this winter. 

Cederic MacLeod said in the 17 years he has owned and operated Local Valley Beef, a 350-acre farm in Centreville, N.B., he has never seen the hay crop this bad. 

"Guys and gals are pulling off between 50 to 70 per cent of their normal average," he said. 

MacLeod said with June being the biggest growing month for hay, getting no rain really impacted its growth. 

"Fredericton usually gets 80 mills but we had 15. You can't grow a crop less than that." 

MaLeod said he usually gets started early in the summer to cut hay when it's at a higher quality. 

"The first field we cut was about a third of what we would normally expect and so we made the decision to delay cutting for a couple of weeks and let stuff bulk up if it will." 

But MacLeod said it's a sacrifice for farmers do that because as the hay matures it gets higher in yield and lower in quality.

P.E.I. crops, farmers struggling with dry fields

'Better than ideal' conditions set stage for bumper hay crop in southwestern Ontario

"We pushed it to 50 per cent and then the last stuff we did was up to 70, 75, 80 per cent of what we'd expect."

As a result, MacLeod said they are downsizing their herd more than the farm normally would during the summer, not only because of the lack of hay for the winter months but also because hay in pastures is scarce as well. 

"We certainly won't be expanding the herd." 

Rain now, more hay later

Lisa Ashworth, president of the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick, said the hot and dry summer has impacted farmers across the province. 

"Just recently there's been scattered showers so the first cut earlier in the summer was below average for most people," she said. 

Ashworth said some producers are able to take two or even three cuts of forage off their good fields. 

"If we had steady rain now and a beautiful September, we can make hay and store it later in the season as opposed to the earlier times." 

But Ashworth said whether producers can make up the difference from the first cut might be difficult. 

Some farmers are hoping a second and third cut will help put more hay in the barns for the winter months.

 While most producers usually have extra hay stored for emergencies, Ashworth said many barns are empty. 

"There is a little nervousness about how much there will be to get through the winter if we don't have a little bit of moisture and a good second and third cut." 

Dry summer leads to hay shortage for some farmers

 Drought-reduced hay crop causes headaches for farmers

Hay prices may go up as producers look to buy some to ensure they have enough for the winter.

MacLeod said the New Brunswick Cattle Producers can help farmers find hay if they need it from other farmers who might have some to spare. 

Ashworth agreed, adding producers in the Maritime provinces have a history of sharing if they have extra hay available. 

"People will make do and we hope for the best," she said. 

The province said it is monitoring the situation. The Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries said some areas of the province have been affected to varying degrees this year, from not a little to quite severely. 

"Impacts and reserves in some areas have been compounded by other previous weather patterns, including dry weather in northern areas 2018 and winter kill of forages in southern areas in the Spring of 2019," said spokesperson Nick Brown in an email.

He added the province is working to understand the full impact to make inform decisions moving forward.

Prince Edward Island. crops, farmers struggling with dry fields

 'A stressed crop is not a happy one'

CBC News · Posted: Aug 07, 2020 7:58 PM AT | Last Updated: August 7

Farmers on P.E.I. are struggling in what they say is a very dry growing season.

The Island has had a lot of hot, dry days and not much rain — in some cases, just 20 per cent of what's normal. CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland says spring and summer have been very dry, especially in western P.E.I. 

"It's been dry," said Matthew Compton of Compton's Vegetable Stand in Summerside. "I've been farming all my life and I don't remember it ever being this dry for this long." 

'This season has been by far one of the driest seasons we've seen, ever,' says Gordon McKenna at Country View Farms in central P.E.I.

Compton's sweet corn crop will be ready soon — it likes the heat, but he said the cobs are not quite as long as they should be and the tips are white. Over in his strawberry fields where the crop started off promising, the final berries being harvested are small and have a shorter shelf life. He knows already his grain and wheat crops will be light and he may have to buy straw from other farmers to cover his strawberries. 

"If we don't get moisture in the next week to 10 days, it's really going to start to show," Compton said. 

"If we look at the weather trends every year, are our periods without rain are getting longer," he said, noting he is considering investing in irrigation equipment. 

'July was a tough one'

The potato crop is struggling too in some parts of the Island, as rainfall throughout the summer has been spotty across P.E.I. 

At Countryview Farm in Newton, where  co-owner Gordon McKenna measures rainfall, he said there's been just a fraction of what's needed. 

"We just checked the numbers there recently — we were about 80 per cent behind rainfall amounts in June. July was a tough one," he said. "We're just praying that August is a little more gentler on us.

"The crops are, surprisingly, hanging on," he said, but added "a stressed crop is not a happy one." 

The next few weeks will be crucial for potato farmers. That's when the potatoes need the moisture to get to a decent size. 

Issues with quality already starting

"If it stays dry through August and September, we'll have smaller-than-average potatoes," said Ryan Barrett, research and agronomy co-ordinator with the P.E.I. Potato Board.

P.E.I. had received much less rain than normal, says CBC meteorologist Jay Scotland. (Jay Scotland/CBC)

"We'll also likely have issues with quality — so things like scab on potatoes or some other sort of physiological defects with the potatoes are more likely when it's been dry."

McKenna said he is seeing evidence of some of those quality issues already.  

Barrett said growers are really hoping to see some rain over the next couple of weeks. 

The forecast for the next seven days shows more hot, dry weather, said Scotland.