At the same time a year ago, an estimated 37 per cent of the country’s agricultural land was facing drought.

At the end of March, an estimated 39 per cent of the country was classified as abnormally dry, or in moderate to severe drought, which was down from 53 per cent the previous month, AAFC said in the April 13 report.

WHY IT MATTERS: The improving conditions bode well for Canadian farmers in the areas that received moisture as spring planting and seeding approaches.

Large portions of central British Columbia, northern Alberta, central Saskatchewan and parts of Ontario and western Quebec recorded more than twice the normal March precipitation. However, above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation in southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan continued to reduce soil moisture and increase the extent and severity of drought.

Drought conditions throughout much of Eastern Canada improved significantly with continued above normal precipitation and near normal temperatures. Some portions of central Ontario saw a two-class drought improvement in March.

Only 21 per cent of Prairie farmland in drought

Most of the Prairie region experienced near to above-normal March precipitation, with much of region receiving between 85 and 150 per cent of normal, with some localized areas exceeding 200 per cent of normal due to multiple winter storms. Southern Alberta remained dry with portions of the region receiving less than 60 per cent of normal precipitation and warmer than normal temperatures, resulting in continued expansion of drought.

Snowfall from repeated winter storms increased snowpack, particularly in Alberta, although periodic warming led to some snowmelt in southern areas. Overall, above-normal precipitation supported short-term moisture improvements in parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, while precipitation deficits persisted in Manitoba, limiting recovery.

At the end of the month, 39 per cent of the Prairie was classified as abnormally dry, or in moderate to severe drought, which compares with 58 per cent the previous month. Only 21 per cent of the region’s agricultural landscape was abnormally dry or facing drought which compares with 47 per cent at the end of February and 32 per cent a year ago.

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On March 22, the federal government announced it would develop such a strategy, calling it “an opportunity to discuss how we can address freshwater-related threats and opportunities,” protect freshwater ecosystems, and secure water for communities and the economy, according to a news release.

The Canada Water Agency, which was repurposed in 2024 as a stand-alone freshwater management agency separate from Environment and Climate Change Canada, will spearhead the strategy’s development.

While the announcement was scant on details of what such a strategy might look like, it said the agency will work with provinces and territories, First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners, “stakeholders across sectors” and the public.

Farmers should be among those consulted, the CFA said in a statement to Glacier FarmMedia.

“Water security is absolutely critical for the future of Canadian farmers. Farmers in different regions of Canada have been devastated by water issues over the past few years, such as the floods in B.C., or the ongoing long-term drought in the Prairie provinces,” a federation spokesperson said.

“A lack of water has severe negative impacts on any type of farm, no matter what they grow or raise.”

Prioritizing food security, agriculture

The strategy should protect farmers and mitigate the effects of water-related events. It should also secure predictable access to water so farmers can maintain food production — for example, through effective water management policies and investment in water infrastructure, CFA said.

“Farmers need to make it clear that food security and agriculture production should be prioritized if there was any issues with access to water.”

“Farmers are also on the front-line of climate change, dealing with the on-ground realities of water-related events,” CFA added. “They have experience and knowledge that will be critical in developing this strategy.”

While the announcement made no specific mention of the agriculture industry, the sector will have an opportunity to share its views during the public engagement process, “recognizing that freshwater is fundamental to our economy, powering industries, agriculture, and the growth of communities,” a federal spokesperson told Glacier FarmMedia.

The federal government has not yet set timelines for consultations, but said those will be announced “in the coming months.”

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Ellis, 38, a fourth-generation farmer in Wawanesa, Manitoba, credits investments in pricey systems including minimum and zero-till farming which help protect soil; tile drainage, an underground system to prevent flooding; slow-release fertilizer pellets which are more effective, and advice from a professional agronomist on weedkillers.

“We are constantly making little tweaks,” he said. “That’s how we’re going to be able to keep fighting the changing climate.”

Across much of western Canada, farmers like Ellis have been turning out strikingly better crops despite hotter and drier conditions — far above what farmers in the region could have expected in better conditions years ago, according to Canadian government data, thanks in part to widespread embrace of climate adaptation strategies.

While greater yields in Canada and elsewhere are depressing global prices for grains, they are keeping many farmers in business.

Record harvests despite drought

Adaptation practices – which tend to be costly and require cutting edge technologies – have enabled many farmers to ride out a drought that began in 2020.

Earlier this month, the Canadian government announced record harvests of spring wheat and canola for 2025. And because most of the grains produced in Canada are shipped and consumed abroad, those gains have major implications for the rest of the world’s ability to feed itself affordably.

Australia, another large global grain exporter, has also reported rising crop yields despite drier conditions.

This combination of methods and technology is not just helping Canadian growers keep up with climate change, but stay ahead of its ravages, according to interviews with 25 farmers, scientists and agriculture industry leaders, and a review of more than a dozen academic papers.

Spring wheat, used to make high-quality bread, yielded 58.8 bushels per acre this year, according to the government data release. That’s a gain of 77 per cent from 30 years ago, based on a three-year average. Canola yields nearly doubled, reaching 44.7 bushels per acre, also based on a 1994-1996 average.

While most climate science paints a bleak picture for global food supply, with a study in Nature this year forecasting up to 40 per cent reduction in North America’s wheat harvest by 2100, the agricultural experts Reuters interviewed said that with climate adaptation strategies the Prairies can continue to produce bigger and bigger crops in the future.

“Back in the day, 30, 35 bushels an acre (for wheat) would have been a bumper crop,” said Rob Saik, a Canadian agronomist who has consulted with governments all over the world. “Now it’s an abject failure.”

A notoriously difficult region

Even before climate change brought more unpredictable and extreme weather, western Canada was a notoriously difficult region to farm.

The central Prairies, a land of green and golden short grasses and thin, scrubby brush, get only about half as much rainfall as Iowa, and have a much shorter growing season. Climate change has made it even harder. Environment and Climate Change Canada says the country is warming at double the global average and that extreme events have become more common. On the Prairies, annual snowfall, a key source of spring moisture, has declined and summer extremes of rain and drought have increased, with rain often coming in enormous torrents, or not at all.

“Extreme events, like floods, heatwaves, wildfires, and severe storms, are increasingly damaging to our economy, ecosystems and built environment,” the federal department said in a 2024 report.

Incremental gains, not miracles

Scientists and agronomists say Canada’s gains don’t come from a single, dramatic factor, but from steady, incremental progress with farming methods and inputs.

Many seeds now come stacked with insect, disease and weed resistance, thanks to conventional breeding as well as genetic modification. Fertilizer application is designed to minimize disturbance to the soil surface by being placed at the same time as the seed goes in.

Fungicides, weedkillers and nutrients allow crops to outcompete their natural enemies.

Some of the strategies recall pre-industrial practices, such as intercropping, growing multiple crops at the same time.

Experts also credit automation such as self-guiding tractors that apply fertilizer at different rates based on soil tests and satellite mapping.

One family’s adaptation evolution

The Mowbray family ventured into adaptive practices four decades ago with tile drainage, laying a small stretch of perforated pipe designed to take the water down into the soil rather than spread it across the surface.

Over the last 12 years, Scott Mowbray, 46, has expanded the drainage system to about 800 acres of his land.

Meanwhile, the Mowbrays gradually took up minimum till. By 2010, the 2,000-acre farm was entirely no-till, leaving the soil unplowed and with stubble standing as a moisture trap and a barrier against the wind that otherwise carries the topsoil away.

The innovations allow the Mowbrays to “pull off yields twice what we used to with half as much rain,” Mowbray said, producing “incredible” volumes of spring wheat, peas and rye.

Technology’s steep price tag

Much of what has allowed Canadian farmers to deal with climate change involves expensive and complex equipment. A smart combine costs upwards of $1 million. A high-speed-data-enabled tractor and seeding drill cost around $2 million.

Kip Eideberg, senior vice president of government and industry relations for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, which represents John Deere DE , Case New Holland CNH and other manufacturers, said precision systems have saved Canadian farmers nine per cent in herbicide and pesticides, six per cent in fuel, and four per cent in water use. That saves money for farmers operating on razor-thin margins, he said.

Most large-scale farmers have access to such technology in their tractors, combines, sprayers and management computers, Terry Griffin, a Kansas State University agricultural economist, said. But an older generation of farmers often doesn’t want to take on digital challenges, while younger farmers don’t have the money for machines or agronomic advice.

One obstacle to greater adoption is rural broadband access. Mowbray can’t count on being able to run a constant stream of data from his big farm machines. He can’t even call his farmhouse from his cellphone. His farm relies on two-way radios instead.

“It’s a simple thing but hugely important when you are in the field and might need a pick-up but can’t get a call through to the house,” he said.

Seed science – the invisible factor

Another equally important factor for farmers’ gains: breeding genetically superior crops that are hardier, drought-tolerant and produce bigger yields.

“We’re just starting down that path,” said Rick Mitzel, CEO of farmer-and-industry-funded mustard seed development organization Mustard 21. The company is developing drought-tolerant plants as an alternative to canola. The varieties “come out of the ground quicker, develop roots quicker, get leafing faster,” Mitzel told Reuters in an interview.

The farmer-controlled South East Research Farm in Redvers, Saskatchewan has been testing crops such as camelina, which is most likely to be planted in Canada for sustainable aviation fuel, that could offer farmers better yields and more resilience.

Executive director Lana Shaw doesn’t think climate change will happen without losses to the Canadian farm community. Some farmers will choose to not adapt and will simply retire. Some will adapt and fail. And some farmers will adapt and thrive.

“Under pressure,” she said, “they can adapt very fast.”

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“Climate change is bringing more severe and longer-lasting droughts to many locations around the world. Some ecosystems have shown resilience to increasing drought, but this could change as droughts become more severe,” said the study.

The research showed that losses in plant productivity — the creation of new organic matter through photosynthesis — were more than twice as high after four years of continued extreme drought when compared to losses from droughts of moderate intensity. Grassland and shrubland ecosystems especially lose their ability to recover over time under prolonged dry conditions.

“We show that — when combined — extreme, multi-year droughts have even more profound effects than a single year of extreme drought or multi-year moderate droughts,” said Colorado State University biology professor Melinda Smith, who led the study with Timothy Ohlert, a former CSU postdoctoral researcher.

“The Dust Bowl is a good example of this,” said Smith in a news release on the study. “Although it spanned nearly a decade it was only when there were consecutive extremely dry years that those effects, such as soil erosion and dust storms, occurred. Now with our changing climate, Dust Bowl-type droughts are expected to occur more frequently.”

Smith designed and led the International Drought Experiment with more than 170 researchers around the world. For the project, researchers built rainfall manipulation structures that reduced each rainfall event by a target amount over a four-year period in grassland and shrubland ecosystems across six continents.

By simulating 1-in-100-year extreme drought conditions, the team was able to study the long- and short-term effects on grasslands and shrublands, which store more than 30 per cent of global carbon and support key industries, such as livestock production. Variations in precipitation, as well as soil and vegetation across continents, meant different sites experienced different combinations of moderate and extreme drought years — providing unique experimental conditions that informed the study.

The research also suggests that the negative impacts on plant productivity are likely to be much larger than previously expected under both extreme and prolonged drought conditions.

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“Canada’s new government is committed to supporting our livestock producers,” said Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald in a news release.

Livestock Tax Deferral allows producers in prescribed areas to defer a portion of their income from sales until the next tax year if they are forced to sell at least 15 per cent of their breeding herd due to drought.

“Buffer zones” have been added to capture producers who are not in the prescribed zones but who may be experiencing similar adverse conditions.

“Weather, climate and production data from across Canada will continue to be monitored throughout the remainder of the season and regions will be added to the list when they meet the criteria,” the federal government said.

At the end of July, 71 per cent of the country was classified as abnormally dry or experiencing moderate to extreme drought according to Agriculture Agri-Food Canada data.

In the Pacific region, 91 per cent of agricultural land was classified as abnormally dry or experiencing moderate to extreme drought. In the Prairie provinces, 81 per cent of the agricultural landscape was considered abnormally dry or in moderate to extreme drought.

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The Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC) will provide support through its AgriInsurance program to improve cash flow for producers needing additional feed, Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn said in an announcement made on July 23.

“Our livestock producers play a critical role in our food supply and our economy. We need to do everything we can to support them, especially in the face of these dry conditions,” MacDonald said in a press release sent out that day. “These program changes will ensure producers in Manitoba receive claim payouts faster, so they can source other feed options as quickly as possible.”

MASC will apply a quality adjustment factor to reduce yield appraisals by 40 per cent for drought-stricken cereal crops converted to livestock feed. The adjustment covers wheat, oats, barley, fall rye, triticale and grain corn. The same measure was last used in 2021 and resulted in over 100,000 acres of grain crops being converted to livestock feed.

Producers with forage and pasture insurance will also see changes, including the option to defer premium payments on claims made before Oct. 1, receive partial payments when possible, and allow livestock to graze insured forage after the first cut without penalty.

“We recognize that some of Manitoba’s livestock producers are facing challenging conditions with the lack of precipitation in certain regions of the province,” Kostyshyn said.

“With pastures drying up and minimal sources of feed for livestock, it is important to give producers the resources they need to maintain their herds. These measures will help to improve cash flow for Manitoba’s livestock producers and provide additional options to access feed.”

MASC will also offer lending clients the opportunity to defer loan payments and provide guidance on financing feed purchases if needed.

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Scientists from the University of Saskatchewan and the National Research Council are studying alfalfa with yellow flowers to see if it can provide drought tolerance in future varieties for Western Canada.

Follow all of our Ag in Motion coverage at the Western Producer.

“(The) yellow flowering alfalfa is probably coming from northern Mongolia and some parts of Russia. It’s a very dry area,” said Bill Biligetu, a plant science professor at the University of Saskatchewan.

The forage crop breeder was at Ag In Motion 2025 July 15, one of thousands who attended the farm show northwest of Saskatoon.

Drought tolerant, high-performance alfalfa

Biligetu came to Ag In Motion to talk about his research on forages, including a project on drought tolerant alfalfa.

He’s part of a team of scientists who are evaluating a diverse germplasm of alfalfa with the broader goal of designing a new variety that can deal with drought and still produce a sufficient volume of forage. The other project leaders are Allan Feurtado of the NRC and Maryse Bourgault from the U of S’s plant sciences department.

The Beef Cattle Research Council and Results Driven Agricultural Research in Alberta are funding the project, which started last fall and continues until 2028.

“Superior alfalfa genotypes with high performance under drought will be selected for new population development,” says the project description.

“At least three new populations will be developed based on flower color, root traits and agronomic (yield).”

An alfalfa that performs during periods with low moisture is needed in parts of the Prairies. Southwestern Saskatchewan, for instance, has suffered through dry growing seasons since about 2018.

Focusing on the roots

The scientists have set up experiments in the lab and at the Livestock Forage Centre of Excellence southeast of Saskatoon to study how the roots of different types of alfalfa grow into the soil when they lack moisture.

Focusing on the roots should give them clues on how alfalfa plants respond to drought and scavenge for moisture.

It’s possible that yellow-flowering alfalfa is better equipped to find water in the soil.

“Typical Canadian varieties … have a big tap root. There is other purple flowering alfalfa that have (a combination) of branch and tap roots,” Biligetu said.

“If you look at yellow-flowering alfalfa, they have branched roots. The branches are bigger than the purple flowering alfalfa.”

This may help plants collect water from a wider zone, he added.

Improving yellow-flowering alfalfa yield

There is a yellow flowering alfalfa on the market in Western Canada called AC Yellowhead. It’s extremely winter hardy and persistent, but yield is smaller than other alfalfa varieties.

“(It’s) suited for pastures in both northern and southern areas and for hay where one harvest per year is intended,” says the Secan technical description of the variety.

Biligetu is hoping to blend the drought tolerant traits from a yellow-flowering variety with the high yield from a purple alfalfa and then create a new variety that can handle drought and produce a substantial amount of forage.

Getting to that point will take some time, partly because the scientists need to identify the genes that help alfalfa cope with drought.

“(We are) extracting DNA from all these alfalfa (types) and then we are sequencing them, so we have the genomic information,” he said, adding that drought tolerance is a complex trait.

“I don’t think we can find one or two genes. It’s more likely many genes.”

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Yet that is the focus of public policy, even as many producers enter another drought year and could be looking at downsizing.

“As a primary producer, I’m not convinced that more cows equals a better outcome for us,” Jeff Yorga told the organization’s annual meeting.

Instead, profitability, younger producers entering the business and keeping grass from being ripped up for grain land are all measures of a successful, healthy industry, he said.

SSGA calls for permanent tax deferral program

Yorga said the SSGA is working to change the policy mindset.

“We grow grass and the cows turn it into protein, and the only way to save the grass in a drought is you have to be able to move the cows,” he said in an interview.

“So when we think about metrics, having policy that is designed to keep the cows around doesn’t keep the grass around.

“What ends up happening is things get exacerbated because the owner wasn’t able to make a clear decision when drought first happened.”

He pointed to Australia, where if it doesn’t rain by a certain date, producers begin to sell off cattle immediately. If and when it rains, they buy back in.

That’s why he introduced a resolution calling for a permanent, 10-year tax deferral program so producers who have to sell because of drought aren’t forced to buy back in at a higher price. Right now, tax deferral areas are announced by the federal government each year. That resolution was passed.

Yorga also said the high prices and strong demand in the industry right now are positive for those who are still in beef production and for those who want to get out.

“I’m not comfortable saying that we need more cows, given the situation that we’re in right now. Bigger picture, I don’t see the herd growing at all this year,” he said.

Detriments of lower cattle numbers

Saskatchewan agriculture minister Daryl Harrison said he had heard Yorga’s message and would consider it.

“I always keep an open mind,” he said.

Saskatchewan Cattle Association chair Chad Ross also addressed the meeting and pointed out the detrimental effects of lower cattle numbers.

SCA collects the provincial and national beef levies, at $2 and $2.50 per head, respectively. Ross said total collections were down about $406,000 last year and are expected to drop another $600,000 this year.

The provincial portion is set to rise 75 cents as of Aug. 1 after extensive debate about raising it to $1.50.

SCA has already cut staff, research spending and third party funding.

“We want to stay positive, but we’ve got work to do to represent our producers. If we’ve got a million less dollars to do the marketing, to do the research, to do the advocacy, it’s tough,” Ross said.

He said producers are doing well and able to pay down debt due to the strong prices, but a 30 per cent decrease in marketings means that $1.50 is probably going to come back into play in future.

The Canadian Cattle Association gets 53 cents out of the $2 provincial levy, and it also had budgetary concerns. Saskatchewan director Lynn Grant told the meeting the organization has begun using a reserve fund it accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic when travel was curtailed.

“In about four years’ time, it’s going to be crunch time,” he said.

Then, CCA will have to cut back activities or seek a revenue increase. He noted that Canadian producers pay less than one-quarter of one percent in checkoff compared to other commodities that pay more.

Grant also suggested that SCA will need the full 75-cent increase to keep operating.

Yorga said associations may have to look at how they are spending the money they have. SSGA is a voluntary membership organization. The provincial checkoff collected by SCA is refundable, but the national portion is not.

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Farmers cut their losses early this year across the U.S. wheat belt, stretching from Texas to Montana. They were choosing to bale the wheat into hay, plow their fields under or turn them over to animals to graze. In Nebraska, wheat acreage is less than half of what it was in 2005.

For farmers with crop insurance, damaged or unprofitable wheat fields can still earn revenue. But many agree that chasing insurance payouts is not the best business model.

Wheat farmers reach inflection point

The Great Plains have long been celebrated for the “amber waves of grain” in the popular hymn “America the Beautiful.” The region’s states produce most of the U.S.-grown crop of hard red winter wheat, favored by bakers for bread. But with prices hovering around $5 (C$6.86) per bushel, U.S. wheat farmers have reached an inflection point, with many forced to either lose money, feed wheat to cattle or kill off the crop.

Interviews with more than a dozen farmers and analysts across Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma, along with a review of U.S. Department of Agriculture data, revealed a vast disparity in profit for wheat compared to other crops. This has led farmers to abandon more fields before harvest.

In parts of the region, prolonged drought has lowered yields in recent years. Farm revenue has also suffered in years with healthy rainfall, as abundant global supplies have weighed on prices. Many have pivoted to corn, soy or livestock, often after generations of their family growing wheat exclusively.

“They can’t sustain that,” said Schoenhals, 68, who raises crops and cattle near Kremlin, Oklahoma, and is president of the state’s wheat growers association. “Eventually you either change to other crops if you’re able to, or you go out of business,” he said.

Farmers abandon wheat crops

Two years ago, severe drought drove farmers to abandon about a third of the U.S. crop. This year, healthy green stalks shot through the cracked soil, and farmers had expected to harvest the most bushels per acre since 2016. But wheat prices hit a five-year low in May.

Every year since 2020, farmers have abandoned between a fifth and a third of the winter wheat crop, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.

Nationwide, corn and soybeans dominate crop fields, with wheat a distant third in planted acreage.

Hard red winter wheat exports hit historic lows in 2024 after drought and lower prices in other wheat-producing areas of the world squeezed the U.S. commodity’s competitiveness.

In Kansas, the leading U.S. producer of hard winter wheat, the disparity between acreage and value is particularly stark. About 1.3 million more farm acres in Kansas were planted with wheat than with corn in 2024, USDA data show, but corn’s value of production was more than twice as high.

Plentiful global supplies have kept benchmark U.S. prices stuck at lows that discourage farmers from growing wheat, producers and analysts told Reuters. Supplies are so ample that droughts in important grain-growing regions of China and Russia this year have barely budged prices.

“We’re below profitable levels for these guys,” said Darin Fessler, an analyst with Lakefront Futures in Lincoln, Nebraska, who grew up on a row crop farm in nearby Sutton.

The way things stand, he said, many farmers have “eaten a lot of their own money and burned up working capital. These bankers are going to say: ‘show me some profits or we’re going to have some farm sales.’”

Heritage but no profit

Ties to wheat farming run deep in the Plains. Historically, European settlers in Kansas struggled to find a foothold until Mennonites from Ukraine arrived with seeds of Turkey Red wheat, a variety that proved able to withstand the area’s dry soil, harsh winters and extreme temperature swings.

The seeds spread to neighboring Oklahoma and Nebraska, where pioneers established homesteads in the sandy, light earth in which wheat thrived but other crops struggled. Hard red winter wheat has remained the main variety of wheat sown in the U.S.

Images of golden stalks adorn hotel lobbies and road signs, and towns include the word in their names. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather, a daughter of Red Cloud, Nebraska, wrote a celebrated poem describing “the miles of fresh-plowed soil, heavy and black, full of strength and harshness.”

Now, U.S. wheat growing is on a steady decline, with farmers finding surer profits from corn, soybeans or cattle. On the wheat quality tour in May, weeks before Nebraska wheat is usually harvested, no wheat could be seen for miles around Red Cloud.

When Royce Schaneman joined Nebraska’s wheat board 19 years ago, wheat fields stretched for 2.2 million acres across the state. Since then, acreage has shrunk to less than a million acres, he said. In Cheyenne County in southern Nebraska, the state’s most productive wheat-growing land, about one in five fields was abandoned this year.

“The feeling out in the country is not good,” he said.

Generations of farmers grew wheat because the crop thrived on rainfall alone. In recent decades, farmers have invested in pricey irrigation systems, experimented with hardier varieties and used fertilizer to improve yields.

Agronomists have helped farmers grow more bushels per acre even as climate change has brought more drought and pests. Producers in the southern Plains have experimented with other types of wheat such as durum, the kind used for pasta, and a gluten-free variety, pursuing customers willing to pay more.

Profits remain elusive.

“It’s heritage, but there’s no profit,” said Lon Frahm, the CEO of Frahm Farmland, a 40,000-acre operation in Colby, Kansas. Surrounding Thomas County is now dotted with wind farms. Farmers there once grew wheat exclusively, he said, but they have started to diversify due to more frequent drought and global competition depressing prices.

Frahm himself now mainly plants corn. He irrigates, fertilizes and harvests the grain using multimillion-dollar machines, then stores it in gleaming, 80-foot steel grain bins. His 7,000 acres of wheat sometimes produce just 5 percent of his farm’s total output.

“There’s certainly profit in corn,” he said.

1 acre = 0.405 hectares

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The farmers hoped for some reprieve after Islamist rebels ended Assad’s 24 years of autocratic rule in December, but a devastating drought and continued water theft mean their crops are still dying, their pears and plums withering on the branch.

“The regime fell and we were hoping that our share (of water) would come, but it did not come,” said Mahmoud al-Hobeish, al-Nashabiyah’s deputy mayor standing beside a dirt-clogged, garbage-littered irrigation canal.

He said people and companies were diverting flows from shared waterways for their own use, leaving al-Nashabiyah’s farmers wanting.

Worst drought in decades

This is critical as Syria’s worst drought in decades takes a devastating toll on this agricultural region east of the capital city Damascus.

Hobeish said the area being farmed had decreased tenfold in the past year, while production was down 90 per cent compared to last year. Farmers are having to spend more money to dig wells, but even then they do not get enough to water their crops.

Hobeish is around $4,000 (C$5,435) in debt.

“People are asking for it and they know I cannot pay,” he said.

The drought, which the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform says is the worst since 1958, is a devastating blow to a country already brought to its knees by more than 13 years of civil war, diplomatic isolation and Western sanctions.

Droughts have plagued Syria for decades, but few have been as dramatic as this year.

Water reserves are down by more than 60 per cent compared to previous years and levels in dams in March were lower than the last two years, the ministry said. Some regions lost more than 70 per cent of their groundwater reserves.

The drought could lead to the failure of around 75 per cent of wheat crops this year, threatening the food security of millions, the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Syrian representative told Reuters in May.

In al-Nashabiyah, Mati Mohammad Nasser said he expected to lose his whole harvest of wheat, pears, plums and other fruits and vegetables.

“We were ruined this year,” Nasser told the Thomson Reuters Foundation as he surveyed his barren fields. “We have lost hope. We sold everything we had and invested it into the land.”

Generational trauma

The European Union and the United States said in May said they would lift sanctions on Syria. The country’s new government said this could allow fertilizers and irrigation technology to be imported.

But this will not help Nasser now. He fears he will have to sell some of his land and livestock to make ends meet.

He usually picks around 200 kg of pears a year from trees he has raised from seedlings. But this year, he plans to chop down the dead trees and use them for firewood.

He has already paid almost $2,000 to dig a deep well, but the water was just a couple of centimetres deep.

“What are we supposed to do with that?” he asked.

‘There is no harvest this year’

Farmers are not the only ones struggling.

In the capital Damascus, people are rationing their consumption of water, even in affluent neighbourhoods after the government restricted supply this year.

In Douma, a town on the northeastern outskirts of Damascus that was also a rebel stronghold during the civil war, Abu Yassir, who runs a farm supply store, said the drought meant business was down about 30 per cent this year.

Even during years of siege by government forces, Yassir said he never had to import seeds as he was able to source everything from the surrounding region, an agricultural hub.

But this year, local markets are depleted and he has had to import agricultural supplies like barley and increase prices by around 25 per cent.

“Things have become expensive,” he said in a telephone interview. “People who used to be keen to buy and had a lot of livestock are now forced to drive down their spending.”

In al-Nashabiyah, Kassim Ibrahim al-Saghir has been forced to scale back work on his farm, and if rains do not come soon he said he would have to sell some of the land that has been in his family for generations. He has lost more than 90 per cent of his crops this year.

“We have daily losses,” the 67-year-old. “There is no harvest this year.”

— The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters.

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