The uncertain nature of farming often means those who engage in the trade are eternal optimists.
Applying their expertise and intuition to the land may not necessarily yield favourable results for one simple reason -- the weather doesn't cooperate.
All summer, farmers look forward to rainfall. However, more frequent and severe events like Hurricane Beryl and the July 16 storm, paradoxically, have created further uncertainty on farms in Halton.
Milton's Parker family, who've been farming their 28 Side Road and 2 Line area land for 200 years now, is one such group of farmers, as are the Urbanos, who run Fallbrook Farm just north of Glen Williams.
In the case of the Urbanos, many of the apple trees in their orchard were showing signs of fireblight, which co-owner Sandra Urbano refers to as the farmer’s F-word.
It is a highly destructive bacterial infection of Rosaceae plants. Infected water drops from rain can drip onto branches of neighbouring plants, thus spreading the destruction. Browning and wilting leaves and bent stems are some obvious signs of the disease.
The infection can enter the roots from twigs and completely kill the tree, making infection control through limb cutting vital.
But even that is complicated and can often create a dilemma for farmers. "You have to make sure that you're not doing any cuts before the rain for a certain amount of time because rain will spread that bacteria onto the trees below it," Sandra Urbano said.
Their sunflowers, another attraction on the grounds, “hasn’t even germinated,” according to Jorge Urbano.
“We have to replant it. So much water drowned the seeds,” he elaborated.
“They just rot when they get too wet,” Sandra Urbano said in building upon her husband’s explanation.
It takes roughly two months to grow sunflowers, meaning they have fallen behind schedule as they will be opening their farm to the public on Aug. 24.
“Our clientele have to know that we are at the mercy of mother nature,” Jorge said. “We’re delayed. We’re out all that money. It costs us to work the land, plant it, fertilize it, seed it. So we’re out all that money.” “Not every year is going to be a bumper year.”
For the Parkers, their corn, hay and pasture grounds were hit hard. On the one hand, the corn they had this year is the best they’ve ever had thanks to the rain. On the flip side, Barb Parker says “with so much rain, there is an issue with diseases.”
A large fungicide sprayer was brought in last week to control the spread of plant mycotoxins, adding to their expenses.
“To break even on that fungicide application, because it’s a custom sprayer and product, we need to get at least an additional eight or 10 quality bushels," said Barb Parker.
Husband Tom added: “Even if you didn't get that and your quality was poor at the end of the season, then the price of that product is way down.”
Their hay harvest was delayed as they tried their best to cut it between rain events. Three days worth of dry, sunny weather is needed to produce the best quality hay. Anything short of that, horses won’t eat it.
“If [the drying] has been delayed, the quality is down. They want to buy the best hay for their horses and there isn’t a lot of there this year,” Tom Parker said. They’ve resorted to wrapping some of their hay to protect it from the elements. However, the reason why the equine industry, which is prevalent in Halton, prefers dried hay instead of wrap due to the risk of botulism and mould.
“It’s not really a concern, but they don’t want to take any chances,” Tom said.
Their pasture land, where they release their cattle to graze, was flooded this year. The ground was not ideal even after the flood subsided, which for cattle brings the risk of foot rot. Two different types of anaerobic bacteria infect their hoofs, which can be very difficult to control once present.
“We do our own treating,” Barb said in explaining the added cost of medication. “In the older buildings, you can get ventilation issues. So for example, we seem to have had a bit of pneumonia in some of our lambs that were born in May.”
But it is not all doom and gloom. As said, the Parkers’ corn harvest exceeded expectations and they believe their oats and soybean harvest will also do be strong.
Despite the fireblight, the unaffected apple trees are expected to yield triple the amount from the previous harvest.
“The size of the apples is good,” Jorge said.
Added Sandra, “we are lucky we know how to cut fireblight out. We know what it is, there is a procedure that we’re healthy enough to go out and do… statistics mean that hopefully next year will be really great.”
Meaghan Evans of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) said that fireblight hasn't been "a significant issue for apple and pear growers across the province this year."
"Where growers have been concerned about potential fireblight risk, they are encouraged to take preventative measures and actively monitoring weather, tree growth stage and disease forecasting systems such as the Ontario Fire Blight Prediction Maps and utilize appropriate management tools," the OMAFRA rep said.
OMAFRA recommends that farmers should consult with the organization Agricorp and ONFruit for further information.